Unfair Labor
by Amberleaf le Haunt
Summary: Petalkit is originally from WindClan. When she is kit-napped by ruthless rogue cats and forced to hunt for them and be tortured by them, will she survive? More importantly, can she ever get back to her home? Read and review! Rated T for blood.
1. Chapter 1: Mission Successful

**Well, then, welcome to my new story! Unfair labor; chapter 1. Listen, listen; I know it's short, and Petalkit might _seem_ like a Mary Sue; but if she is, I apologize! I know some of you hate that. Still.... all flames WILL be used to roast marshmallows. I'd prefer (even if it's harsh! :D ) criticism.**

**Anyway, READ AND REVIEW!!!!**

Unfair Labor

Petalkit is originally from WindClan. When she is kit-napped by ruthless rogue cats and forced to hunt for them and be tortured by them, will she survive? _More importantly,_ can she ever get back to her home?

Chapter 1

A golden-brown tom slunk into the dark clearing, surrounded by gorse bushes. He was on a mission. He carefully padded past a den full of grown cats, and stepped into a warm, milky-smelling den.

He sniffed the air. _Ah, the nursery._ He sniffed the air again. _And lots of kittens! Lots of kittens for me to take,_ he thought. _But which one should I choose?_

He sniffed around the pile of kittens and mothers and finally chose a small scrawny golden, black-and-white spotted female kitten. _A tortoiseshell, this one is. She'll do._ Female kittens were always more fun to torture, because they didn't always learn to fight back. In fact, very rarely did a female slave learn how to fight back against her torturers. She would have an examination every day, and one of the cats in their group had a mind-reading power. She would examine the kit's mind and past for that day, and then, if the kitten was caught doing anything, well…._ suspicious_…. a torture session, or a lesson, as the tom called it, ensued.

_Time to go,_ he suddenly realized. The sun would rise soon.

He slunk out of the den, and _then_ out of the clearing full of cats, and raced away with his prized possession—the kitten!—in his jaws.

***

I woke up to a sharp pain in my tail.

"Ow!" I mewed, pitifully.

"Finally, you're awake," spat a voice. I looked up. I saw a _huge_ golden-brown tabby tom towering above me. One of his huge paws were raised, and big, blood-spattered claws poked not-so-subtly out of the pads. I whimpered.

"Oh, shut up!" a female voice answered. _A she-cat,_ I thought. _Someone nicer?_ I turned toward her. "Mommy, mommy!" I mewled.

"Oh, shut up!" she said again, and raked small but sharp claws down my face. I mewled in terror. It hurt! Blood slowly welled out of the scratches and it trickled down my face.

"Who—who are you?!" I stammered. Then I trembled as I saw three more cats melt out of the shadows of trees behind me. I looked up at the sky. _Dawn was coming._

"Do you want to know our names or the agency?" the she-cat growled.

"Umm, both please," I stammered again.

"I am Thorn," the huge golden-brown tabby tom growled.

"And I am Vixen," the small black she-cat who had clawed me earlier said proudly.

"I am Lunar," a big white tom hissed at me.

"I am Rose," a small brown tabby she-cat with white paws, tail-tip, underbelly and ear-tips said to me, not unkindly. _Well, she looks nice._

"And I am Rock," the largest gray tom that I had _ever_ seen said. He towered above the others, and had huge paws and big dark gray claws that stuck out of the sockets, even sheathed.

"And we all come from the Rock Agency," Vixen said, glancing up at Rock. He nodded. "Rock is the cat who makes up our agency; h-he brings us all together."

"Very good," Rock said, nodding appreciatively. "And now, for the test. We will name you Bug as we have nothing else to call you, and Foxdung isn't _nearly_ as good. Bug, lie on your belly in front of me."

I trembled, but did as I was told. What was happening to me?

"Next, we will test your silence range." He raised a huge forepaw above me. _What kind of test _is_ this?_ I wondered. _Hmm, maybe I can go if I do not cry out._ A dumb idea, but maybe it would work!

Long, sharp claws sunk themselves into my chest and slowly raked their way down to my tail. Then they came harder, dragging upward from my tail to my chest. Next, Vixen stepped forward. She sunk sharp claws into my face, creating deep gouges around my eyes and nose. Thorn tugged on my tail. Lunar clawed at my ears. Suddenly, Rock's claws ripped a chunk of skin out of my underbelly. I cried out in pain, and scrambled to get away. I managed to get around them but suddenly a big paw held me down. It flipped me over onto my back and soon I was staring up at Thorn.

"I shall do the engraving," Rock announced. "Tigerstar, we present to you this slave placed in our care. Now she must carry the true symbol of any Rock Agency slave and you shall get an offering of her skin and blood every moon." I started to scream in pain and writhe underneath Thorn's paws as he started to claw, very carefully though, around the space in the middle of the front of my neck. When he was done, I was bleeding.

"There," he announced again. "All done."

I squirmed on the ground uncomfortably. These were some mean cats. I wanted my mommy!

But, as I soon realized, the only problem was that I might never get away.

So what would I do now?

* * *


	2. Chapter 2: One Day He'll Snap

Chapter 2

"Wake up, Bug!" A powerful claw shook me. I groaned.

"Get off, Poppykit…." I mumbled, "It's not time for me to wake up yet."

The claw persisted.

"Leave me alone!" I cried. "I'm too—"

It was then that I found myself staring up into the face of…. _Rock._

"….Tired," I finished slowly.

Rock grabbed me up into his claws. "Why were you so late in getting up?" he demanded. "Why? Were you defying us? Were you? _Were you???!_ _ANSWER ME!!!!_" He shook me when I didn't answer. I was frozen in fear. I smelled his rank, hot breath in my face, and his eyes were like fire.

The truth was, I had been kept up—until MIDNIGHT—by a torturing session, directed at _me_.

"No, I—"

Suddenly, a huge paw slammed me into a tree. "Ah, forget it," Rock's voice growled. "I want you to go hunting for me."

"H-Hunting….?" I looked up at him quizzically.

"Yes, _hunting,_ dumbo. Catching prey so _others_ that are _better_ than you can eat it," he hissed. "Now go." He pointed with his tail to a copse of trees, and I raced off in that direction.

Now, the only problem was, I couldn't hunt!

***

I stumbled into the copse of trees and looked around. It had been farther away than I'd thought! It had been dawn when I'd set out, and it was almost sunhigh, right now! The leaves parted a bit and swayed, and sunlight dappled down to the ground below. I was suddenly tired; although I didn't know why. I decided to rest in a patch of warm sunlight, where there were no trees! I lay down and closed my eyes….

"_Petalkit," a voice whispered. I looked up._

"_Mother? _Mother_?" I exclaimed, shocked. "What are _you_ doing here?"_

_She smiled; the smile that I'd always loved. "I'm here because StarClan let me. I came to warn you." Her face creased in a frown. "These are evil cats that you are dealing with. Even the slightest wrong movement might infuriate them. You could get hurt severely, and there is no one to heal you—"_

"_I know, I was told that last night," I interrupted. "Anyway, what's the _real_ reason you are here?" I cuddled up against her and she smiled down at me, in a warm, yet worried, sort of way._

"_One day Rock will snap. This is far off from now. The future is not set in stone so it is possible to avoid. But I must warn you, lest you let off your guard for even one minute."_

"_Yes?" I inquired._

"_One day Rock will get mad at nothing. He will take it out on you." Her eyes stared into space. "He will rip you apart. He will snap your bones. He will…._ break_ you._

"_Your blood will spill out on the ground before him, and he will laugh. A maniacal laugh, a crazed one which, well, which basically means that…. _he wants to kill you._" The words came out in a whisper._

"_Then he will leave you. Blood will pour out of your little body; and you won't be able to move. Eventually you will die and Tigerstar will take you. You will live as an eternally tortured slave of the cats of the Dark Forest. They have many slaves, all mistreated and dirty…. I hate to think of you being one of _them_." She looked as if she were about to cry; she sounded so sad._

"_I had to tell you. But now I can tell you no more. I must go. You must wake up, too, and hunt. Otherwise, I fear that day will come sooner."_

"_Bye, Mother," I said, nuzzling her fur._

"_Bye, little one," she whispered. "Take care. And be careful." And then she faded away, leaving me in nothing but darkness._

***

When I woke up, I wondered about the dream. I had already known that Rock was a dangerous cat, but that he wanted to kill me someday?! I didn't know _that_. I looked up at the sky, again. _Sunhigh?!_ Rock would be _furious_! And besides, Mom _had_ told me that I'd, "best be careful….," and I couldn't help thinking that she _might_ just be right about that.

But now. Hunting. I had no idea how! Once, Robinflight had told me that the strategy for hunting was simple: keep your feet light and don't make any noise. And then he had showed me. I tried it. He had praised me! He said I had got it exactly right. And it was easy.

_Might as well try it out now,_ I thought, smoothly dropping into a crouch. I began to hunt, much in the same way as Robinflight had told me….


	3. Chapter 3: Almost Dead

Unfair Labor

_Chapter 3_

I returned back to Rock's camp with a few pieces of prey in my mouth. The best piece of prey I had caught, though, was a _huge_ blackbird that I had only been _really_ lucky catching!

_Seriously, though,_ I thought. _Rock is going to have your pelt off for this. Even the crow is only _one_ piece of prey, and it's not going to be acceptable for this!_

But it would have to do. I took a deep breath and entered the camp.

I had only _just_ stepped over the threshold when Rock was in front of me.

_What? What's _he_ here for?_ I wondered.

"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?!" he thundered. "IT'S ALREADY _WAAAAAAAAAAAY_ PAST SUNHIGH!!!"

"S-Sorry, Rock," I mewed. "I only—"

He slapped me in the face with an unsheathed paw. I dropped the blackbird.

"Ah, forget it," he sighed. I glanced up at him warily. What was he up to now? "You must go hunting again. But, before you do…. torture session ensues!"  
"W-Why?" I squeaked, fearfully.

"Because…. you were disobedient! Hmm, who shall join in…." he mused. "Thorn! Vixen! Lunar!"

My belly clenched in fear as the three cats slid out from hidden areas in the camp. I stared up at Vixen, and her eyes were cold and hard, like daggers. Thorn was dragging a rope behind him.

"Bug has been disobedient," Rock informed them. "You may torture her."

"Yay!" Vixen squealed, her tail curling up in amusement.

…_.What?_ I thought.

And then it started.

Thorn slipped a circle in the rope around my neck and squeezed, _tight._ I could _not_ breathe. I rolled around on the floor, struggling and gasping for air.

While I couldn't scream, Vixen lashed her tail and then pounced on me. I felt like I should scream, or at _least_ gasp, but that was out of the question, since I couldn't! Instead, I just writhed around and struggled and jerked as Vixen, Thorn, and Lunar tortured me. Rock just watched, and he roared with laughter.

The only break in all the hilarity, torture, and scorn was when I saw Rose coming out of the bushes to see what the fuss was all about. She raised her nose, as if to sniff, and then sat down and gazed at me with an almost apologetic look.

….

….

_So…. dizzy…. Where am I? I wondered. I gazed around me, confused. Am I dead?_

"_No, you are not _dead_, Petalkit." My Mother bristled at the words._

_Mama! Mama! For some reason, I was just sitting there. I couldn't move. I could see my body get streaked with red, rough lines, but I couldn't feel anything and I couldn't tell what I was doing here._

The only difference was that here, I could breathe.

"_You're close," breathed my Mother. "You've got to be _careful_! If you can…. _please_…. just run away…. I'll feel better knowing, that, even if you _don't_ know the way back to your home, you'll _at least_ be away from those horrible cats! Oh, Rock…." Her fur bristled, and I realized that I had _never_ heard her voice so full of pain and fury._

_Until now._

Until now.

….

….

I woke up, gasping as the pain hit me.

"_Finally_!" smiled Rock. "I _think_ that she's learned her lesson. How did being _dead_ for a few heartbeats set your outlook on things, huh?" he sneered at me. I realized I was laying under one of his _huge_ paws. "Guess you've learned your lesson, and you _won't_ be so disobedient again, right?!"

Well, that was…. weird, to say the least. I had been dead?! No, I had shared a dream with my Mother…. but I wasn't about to tell _them_ that.

"Yes, Master," I sighed. "I've learned my lesson, and I won't be disobedient ever again, and I'll do whatever you say!" I promised. Hmm…. _maybe_ he wouldn't hurt me.

"Sure, sure," he smiled again. There was something, well…. _sinister_ in his eyes, and I was worried. "How about this, then—_beg_ me for torture, Bug. _Beg_ for torture like you've never begged for _anything_ before! Let me hurt you! Let yourself wallow in the pain! Think like a slave! Become obedient!"

I trembled, but I complied. "Yes, Master Rock. Torture me. Torture me all you want! I'm a slave; I don't care; this is what slaves do!"

"As you wish." Rock smiled evilly and placed one large claw over my belly. I felt dizzy.

And then it struck.

….

….

Rock jabbed his long, curved claw into my belly and curled it inwards. Then, he _ripped_ it out as fast as he could!!

I screamed in agony. He had taken out some of my skin, too, and now there was a deep gash, leaking blood profusely with no sigh of ever stopping! He flipped me over and raked his claws along my tail and spine, and I yowled, and tried to wriggle free.

Rock dislocated my front paws and my back paws, and pulled on my tail till it popped with an unbearable amount of pain. I couldn't move away, but I trembled and shook and wriggled all over, meanwhile screaming. Rock got this angry look in his eyes, and brought his paw down on my head again.

Everything went black, but I could breathe this time, so I knew I would live.

I just wasn't sure what they were going to do to me when I woke up.


	4. Chapter 4: Voices

**Hmm.... ****_This,_**** hopefully, is better than the last chapter. I worked really hard on it!!! :) I hope you enjoy it; it's mostly a dream, though. I'm so proud that I _finally_**** managed to get this updated! FINALLY!!! :o **

**Well, _anyways_****, I just realized that I have, like, _never_**** given Petalkit's mother a name. _Therefore_****, I am starting a contest: **

**You have to come up with a name and description (fur/eye colour) of Petalkit's mother. There will be three winners.**

**First place! Will get to have their name for Petalkit's mother used, will get to write part of a chapter/a whole chapter of what _they_**** want to see in the story, and will get to write the name/description of one of the cats Petalkit meets up with after she escapes. (Like, a _whole bunch_**** of chapters from now, but.... meh.)**

**Second place! Will get to write the name/description of one of the cats that Petalkit meets up with after she escapes and**** contribute torture ideas****!!!**

**Third place! Will get to contribute torture ideas _and_**** make up the leader of the new Clan!!!**

**I hope this motivates you to review!!! And read!!! :) **

* * *

Chapter 4

"Wha…. ah…. no…. please stop…." I thrashed around in the mud as I slowly came to. I remembered blood, and pain from my last experience. All of that was torture. Unfortunately, now I probably had to face it again. But, I'd had a pleasant dream: my mother had washed my cuts and comforted me. The pain had gone away, but now it was here again.

_"Petalkit, Petalkit…." murmured the soft voice coming through the trees. "Welcome, welcome."  
I slowly stirred and awakened. When I got a glimpse of this place, and smelled something familiar, I bolted upright into a sitting position.  
"Where—why am I here?!" I gasped. "Am I dead? Am I home? Where am I???"  
"Petalkit, Petalkit," the voices insisted. "Walk and you will find us."  
"What are you doing here?" I got up and began to cautiously turn around, circling slowly. "Where are you? Where? What am I supposed to do?!"  
"Follow, Petalkit," the voices murmured. "Follow; and you will see."  
I glanced at the beautiful flowers along the stone path. "Alright; I will follow," I decided.  
The flowers seemed to quiver and sway in delight. "Ah, thank you, Petalkit. Follow me. I promise you will not regret this."  
Well, it was a start. I walked along the stone path, reveling in the quiet silence and the absence of the pain. I wished I could stay here forever.  
"Oh, no, you mustn't think that, Petalkit," the voices murmured. "Or you will stay here forever."  
And why couldn't I? It was nice…. and peaceful….  
"But then you'll never get back to WindClan," the voices insisted, more blunt now.  
Well, that was true. I sighed. I guess that _all_ things couldn't be perfect.  
"You're where you're supposed to be, Petalkit. Turn around," the voices said suddenly.  
I spun around, but I couldn't see anything. Why must this be so complicated?!  
"Petalkit, look harder and you will see," the voices told me.  
I stared with all I had, and eventually I saw a shape melt out of the blackness.  
"Mother!" I mewed. "You came!"  
"Why, yes," she purred. "I did. You need help."  
I rolled my eyes. "Well, as if that weren't more obvious. I'm being held captive by a bunch of cruel cats who want to torture me and I think I'm going to go crazy! Of course I need help!"  
"Well, yes, that too." My mother looked uncertain all of a sudden.  
"So? What'd you come here for?" I asked eagerly, snuggling into her fur.  
"Well, let me clean you and tell you." She started washing my cuts. "Remember what I told you about Rock about to snap and kill you?"  
I nodded. "Yes, Mother? What about it?"  
"Well," she sighed sadly. "That time is going to come, well…. _sooner_, rather than later. All I can tell you is to beg for torture and bow to his every will. Then, maybe it will come later. But you will be tortured almost to death, and I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about that." She bowed her head. "I'm sorry, Petalkit. I must strike you as such a _terrible_ mother, to let your life start like this. I hate myself," she added bitterly.  
"No, Mother," I mewed solemnly. "It's my fault for being who I am."  
Suddenly, my own mother seemed to snap. I jumped back as she got in my face, fire blazing in her eyes.  
"No, Petalkit," she hissed. "You must never think that. You have a better purpose in life than you think, and nothing can take that from you. Not even Rock. But first, you must escape from them, and not go back to the Clans right away—I have a prophecy for you."  
Her eyes got all distant as she recited it. It was kind of scary as she said, "_One will join with two, then three will create Flower, and nothing will be the same ever again._"  
I gasped, swaying where I stood. "Oh, wow…. and all of this is actually _true_?!"  
She laughed; a high, silvery laugh. "Why, yes, of course, Petalkit. Unfortunately, I must go now, but I will see you again soon, don't you worry about that."  
And then she was gone, and I was waking up in a nest of dung._

"So, glad you could join us!" Rock boomed in my face. "You want to know what we have for you? A prime torture method!"


	5. Chapter 5: Burning Me

**Hello, and welcome to Chapter 5! I will be your host today as you read through a gruesome torture story and LIKE IT.**

**But, no, seriously; I hope that you DO like it. This may be just a BIT unrealistic.... but it was fun to write! :3 I hope you like it! :) :3 **

**Disclaimer (simply because, I felt like adding one today for some reason): I do not own Erin Hunters and the only characters that are mine are Petalkit and her mother and Rock and his gang.**

**REMEMBER: The contest is still going on!!! If you haven't submitted your entries yet, please do so!!! I have two entries so far: **

**Submitted by _Free Runner at Heart_****: ****Moonflower: silvery she-cat, with pale bue eyes**

**Submitted by _Lightkit_****: Flowernose/Flowerclaw: a tortoiseshell with blue eyes, a single white paw, and a completely black tail.**

**Thanks for the suggestions, guys! They really mean a lot to me! But I need MORE! MORE, I TELL YA!!!! :D *goes mental* Umm.... **

* * *

Chapter 5

_What prime torture method?_ I wondered. _Where could they _possibly_ be taking me?_

Rock had shoved a collar and leash over my head and was dragging me somewhere. I was just lying there, yipping and yelping whenever my body went over a stone or bump.

And they just laughed.

_Wow, these cats must _really_ not care about me _at all_!_ I thought. And then I thought something else: _Of _course_ not! They just want you as their _slave_! Nothing more!!!_

It was rather disturbing to know that this was my life now. This was a life that I might _never_ escape out of, and it was all because I had been born.

_Well, then they would have just taken someone else!!!_ a little voice in my head argued.

That was true, I reflected. Recently, I'd come around with this little thing, to take care of everybody else, and I would always heap the blame on myself. Great StarClan, I was thinking some _pretty crazy_ thoughts now!

_It's better that I was taken. I'm nothing but a burden._

I knew I needed help when I thought that, simply because I was going all crazy on myself.

I wasn't even really noticing the bumps and scratches anymore, just my yelps, and they disturbed my thinking. And all of a sudden, Rock stopped.

"We're here!" he announced.

_Here?_ I thought. _HERE????!_

Great StarClan, this was worse than I'd ever imagined!

Thorn, Lunar, and Rose were already there. Rose was just sitting off to the side, watching them.

The two toms were getting ready, it looked like.

Ready for what? I wondered. What could they _possibly_ be getting ready for?

And then Rock dragged me over to a stick and tied me to it. My paws were bound behind my back, and I was pretty much exposed. It was like I had once seen those Twolegs who were camping at the edge of the territory in Greenleaf, except they had a strange creature that smelled a bit like prey, but the smell was wrong. My Mother had once taken me and my siblings out through the territory to explore. It was _wonderful_. I had always wanted to be out of the camp.

But now that I actually _was_, it was terrible. Because this was _not_ the way I wanted to be out of camp.

And _then_, through some heavy lifting, they put my stick so that it was in mid-air, but I wasn't above the fire. I wondered why.

Well, I soon found out.

Rock took a piece of rubber and stuck it in the fire for a while. It was attached to a stick, so he wouldn't get burned.

But _never_ did I dream that I would be the one to get burned.

Unfortunately, I was. Rock took the now burning rubber out of the fire and came closer, closer towards me. Since I was hanging downwards, with my paws tied above me, then Rock had to crouch down. But he put the burning rubber on me, nonetheless.

And when he did, I screamed the loudest, most painful wail you would ever hear. It was hot. Burning hot!!! It felt like the life was bleeding out of me. Lunar, Thorn, and Vixen all took pieces of burning metal or rubber and scraped them against my back, tail, or paws.

Rock held the burning rubber there for a while, and I kept screaming until I ran out of breath. _Finally_, they took the burning stuff away and took my stick out of its perch in mid-air.

But this was more terrible. They placed it on yet _another_ place, and wheeled something in under me. And I gasped when I saw what it was. It was a metal board, but not just any board. This one had _spikes_ on it. The spikes were hot, orange, and distorted, and I screamed as Rock and Lunar lowered me down onto it. I let out a screech of pain as they scraped my belly across the hot spikes, ripping it open and making blood pour out.

Pretty soon, I felt light-headed. They were burning me, _and_ my blood was leaking profusely from many gashes all over my body. Afterwards, when they released me, they put the collar and leash back on and dragged me back home.

"Go hunting for us!" Rock screamed in my ear. "AND NO DELAYS!!!"

"Yes, Master," I said fearfully, rushing off into the woods.

So, this time their prime torture method had been fire. On the way home, I had noticed Rose looking at me with an expression of sympathy in her eyes. I could tell that she was just _dying_ to talk to me. I wondered why.

When I got back, dragging three mice, two crows, four voles, and a sparrow (I had been out a _looong_ time), Rock noticed my return. I fed him first. I gave him two mice.

"Good. You're _finally_ back!!!" screamed Rock angrily, slashing at my face and ears. I screamed in pain as he ripped off one of my whiskers. "Be faster next time!"

Thorn, it seemed, was strangely subdued. I gave him the two crows and he just nodded and slashed at my already bleeding ears once before sending me away. I raced towards Vixen next.

Vixen, it seemed, was _always_ up to torture me. She flipped me over onto my belly, dug her claws _deep_ into my belly, and laughed at my scream as she dragged them slowly down my belly. Afterwards, she dug into the sparrow and I gave her and waved me away.

I gave Lunar and Rose the four voles and one mouse. They were eating together. Hmm, strange. Lunar slashed at my body a few times, then bit into my belly, and let me go. Rose just nodded shyly at me and said, "Thanks."

After everybody had been fed, it was night-time, so I went into the dirt-place. _That_, supposedly, was my den.

Anyways, it was time to sleep. I had no idea what was going to come tomorrow, so I put my head down and I was out like a light.


	6. Chapter 6: Mind Games

**Well, here is another chapter. Courtesy of me. WOW!!! Two chapters in ONE DAY!!! :3 :) And I wrote them both today, too!!!! Completely!!!! I think.... XD**

**Keep the contest entries coming! I still have to get names for her mother, y'know!!!! :) **

**And I did mind games in this one. 3 ALMOST deadly mind games.... XD :3 ;3 ;3 :3 3:**

**Oh, poor Petalkit.... 3: **

* * *

Chapter 6

I woke up and stretched. As I was about to get up, I paused.

_Something isn't right._

There was just…. something in the air, some weird sense of foreboding. And, the bad thing was, I had absolutely _no idea_ what it was.

_Should I go out there? No, wait, I _have_ to; otherwise Rock will get mad at me and he might snap. Remember what he did you yesterday!_

I stepped cautiously out of the den. When I got out there, I couldn't pinpoint anything wrong, until….

"Go hunting, Bug! NOW!!!!" Rock said, in a fierce voice. I trembled I noticed that Rose was nowhere to be seen, but I could hear her snoozing in her den. The rest of them, Vixen, Thorn, Lunar, and Rock, all had sinister smiles on their faces. Their eyes were calculating, plotting…. I shuddered.

"GO!!!" Vixen yowled, leaping forward and scratching right above my eyes.

I jumped back, in pain and shock. "O-Okay," I said nervously, spinning around and leaving the camp.

As I hunted, I thought about stuff. One of my thoughts was _especially_ worrisome.

_There was such a _sinister_ air about them! What are they planning to do to me today???_

Pretty soon, I felt tired, so I curled up in a patch of sunlight and fell asleep. Before I did, I pictured what I must look like. I must look like a dung-stained, helpless, skinny kit, who was not sure of the world around her.

That pretty much described…. wait, that described…. Great StarClan, that described ME!!!! _I_ was that helpless, skinny kit who was not sure of the world around her!!!

How depressing.

_I was dreaming. I was in a soft nest of moss, and my mother was standing over me._

"_Oh, poor Petalkit," she whispered. "To think that it will come to this…."_

_I stirred slowly, and sat up. "Come to what, Mother? What's troubling you?" I asked her gently._

"_It's Rock and his gang. Remember that sinister look you spied about them this morning?" she asked me._

"_Oh, yes, that," I recalled. "It was scary. I came out of the dirt-place, and it was just so quiet, and I was _scared_."_

"_Well, what they're going to do to you is this: They're going to play a potentially deadly mind game with you. They will put prey on your belly and ask you impossible questions. And for every question that you get wrong, you get a little bit of torture. If you get enough questions wrong, then they eat all the prey and _then_ torture you. And, I mean, _really bad torture_. Like, this will be a near-death experience for you. I don't know _what_ they will promise you if you get enough stuff _right_, but even if you _do_ get enough questions right, they will still torture you. They will try to get your hopes up."_

"_Well, what can _I_ do about it?" I asked._

"_Well, don't get your hopes up, for one," my mother replied. "And two, be careful. I don't know how close Rock is to snapping."_

_I nuzzled her. "Thanks, Mother. You're the best."_

_She gave me a lick on my ear. "I hope you won't be joining StarClan today, little one. You still have much to learn, and a _real_ destiny ahead of you…."_

And then she was gone, and I was waking up on my own in the middle of the forest. I caught a few more pieces of prey, and hurried back to the camp. I knew what to expect now.

I was careful not to think it around them as I went back into camp. I just stopped with my prey, not knowing what to do next: They were all standing in the center of camp.

"Put the prey down at my feet, and lie down belly-side-up," Rock instructed me.

I did as he instructed me to do, putting the prey down at his feet and lying down belly-side-up.

"Alright," Rock began. "We will play a mind game. It's called 'Be Right, or Eat the Prey.' Do you want to play?"

I shook my head vigorously. _No._

"Well, too bad, because we're playing it, anyways!" he told me gleefully. He put the pieces of prey on my belly: a mouse, a vole, a crow, and a sparrow. The rest was put on a pile in the center of camp.

"The rules of the game are this: get a question right, and you get to eat a tiny bite of prey. Get a question wrong, and you get a punishment. If you get _enough_ questions wrong, then you will become the prey yourself, which is when we rip and tear you apart and torture you as much as we possibly can without killing you. Still up for it?" he said, his eyes menacing with a Rock-like look that said, _Nod or you die._

I nodded out of fear and Rock laughed. "Good, good! Now for the first question: what is my favorite food?"

I hesitated. Which one did he like best? He liked all of them. "The crow?" I guessed.

"Right!" he said, and gave me a tiny piece of prey to eat. I was still braced for torture at any moment, though.

"What is Lunar's favorite food?" Rock asked me. He had a glint in his eye.

"The mouse," I decided.

"WRONG!!!" Rock screamed, and he and the others ran at me and began scraping burning objects down my sides and belly. Rock took the prey off for the moment. I screamed and shook my head, over and over again. How could I not have seen the fire behind them?!?!

"Next; what's Thorn's favorite food?"

"The mouse," I said again.

"Right!" Rock said, and gave me another tiny bit of prey to eat. And I was _still_ braced for torture. That had come in handy last time.

"What's Vixen's favorite food?" he asked me.

"The sparrow!" I said. This time only Vixen leapt forward.

"NO! YOU'RE WRONG!" she screeched maniacally, kicking the prey off my belly and landing on my belly. I let out an _oof_ as she jumped onto me. She stuck her nose into mine. Her eyes were full of fire; I swear mine were full of fear.

"Do you want torture?! WELL, DO YOU?!?!" she roared into my ear. She clawed at my nose and stabbed me with burning rubber. I screeched.

"Please, stop!" I yowled. "Please! Please stop! It hurts…."

"Well, it's too late for that!!!" she yowled, but she jumped off me and stood beside Rock. The vole and the sparrow were on my belly now.

"Who are the two remaining cats you haven't chosen for their favorite prey, and what's their favorite prey? If you get this wrong, _you're_ prey, yourself," Rock added; a menacing glint in his eye.

I concentrated hard. "Lunar's favorite food is the sparrow, and Vixen's favorite food is the vole."

"WRONG!!!!" Rock screamed, and they leapt at me. I screamed as they all landed on and around me; Rock scraping sharp, burning objects down my belly and sides; Vixen biting on my head and ears; Thorn digging his claws deep into my skin and ripping them out as fast as he could; and Lunar, scraping his claws from my neck to my tail. I screamed and screamed.

When they were done with that, they stopped and started slamming themselves onto my poor, weak body. My whole body was red with blood, and blood was pooling around me. I swear that this is the _worst_ torture I could ever have.

It felt like it went on forever. They were cackling menacingly. At one point, I saw Rose peeking out of her den, her eyes widening in horror, and then she went back into her den. I didn't see her again after that.

I was screaming and yowling in pain, and meanwhile, red-hot fire coursed itself through my body. I thought I was going to die. And suddenly, I felt myself getting light-headed. And then I fainted.

"_Oh, Petalkit," said my mother. "I'm so sorry it had to come to this."_

_I was lying in a comfy nest made of moss. I smiled weakly. "Hello, Mother."_

_She smiled at me. "Hello, Petalkit."_

_And then she was gone, and my vision faded. When I woke up again, there was a cat above me._

"_I am a medicine cat of StarClan, Petalkit," said the cat. "And I am here to help you."_

_He inspected me and cleaned my wounds and put some icky herb poultices on them. He made me _eat_ something, too._

"_To get your strength back and give you more blood," he said._

_He was so kind and gentle, and the air was so warm and nice here; I never wanted to leave. But eventually, I had to._

"_There we go," he said, smiling happily. "You can go back now."_

_As I felt myself swirling into darkness, falling down, down into the utter blackness, I let loose a thought._

What if I don't ever _want_ to go back?

_But that thought would hang on the strings of eternity and fate forever, because my wish of getting away from these cats could not be answered by StarClan._


	7. Chapter 7: You Just Can't Win

**Well, this was rushed, AND it's kind of short, but I like it. It gives you a look into Rose's past, which.... is _not_**** going to be what most of you were expecting, now _that's_**** for sure. I won't give anymore away!!! :) (Although it's NOT going to be what you think it is.... well, maybe, i you're thinking correctly, but.... yeah.) NOW JUST READ ALREADY!!!! :D **

**Oh, and, Gingerstar14, could you tell me your idea already? Thanks. Also, if your computer's being crappy, why don't you scan it for viruses, or something? For anti-virus, I recommend Spybot - Search and Destroy and CA Security. Or Ad-Aware. Now, that PROBABLY wasn't even really necessary. You could just enable Tracking Cookies, or something!!! :) :3 **

**Now, enjoy!!! :) **

**EDIT: Coming soon, the story of Rose's life!!! :) **

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Chapter 7

I woke up in a nest full of dung. I wrinkled my nose at the smell, before I realized where I was. Ugh. Dung?!

"Well, had a nice torture session?" Rock laughed in my face.

I didn't say anything, just bowed my head painfully. I had been burned and tortured. I was aching all over.

"DID YOU HAVE A NICE TORTURE SESSION???!" Rock screamed in my ear, slamming his paw down on top of my head.

I quickly realized that I was actually supposed to _say_ something.

"Yes, Master!" I screeched.

"Well, COME OUTSIDE," Rock hissed in my ear, making the fur on the back of my neck stand up in fright. I quickly stood up and was shoved outside by Rock. I stood outside, my head bowed and my fur fluffed up. It was unseasonably cold out today.

"Brrrrrrr…." I shivered. Rock and the others got cold, evil smiles on their faces.

"Let's make her even colder!" Lunar exclaimed.

"Yeah, that'll be PERFECT!!!" cried Rock, an evil glint in his eye.

I trembled. What were they planning to do to me next?

"Winter is coming soon, so if this works, she'll be cold, freezing, _and_ tortured until spring comes again!" Vixen exclaimed happily.

"Bug," Rock instructed angrily, "lie on your back, belly-side-up, in the middle of the clearing."

Trembling with cold and fear, I did as I was told. I had absolutely _no_ idea what they had been talking about.

"Well, Bug; we will strip you of _all_ your fur and make you cold all winter!" Rock exclaimed; laughing evilly as I painfully lowered myself onto the ground. Rock flipped me over so that my belly was facing up. They all surrounded me. I trembled in fear.

Vixen was at my head. Rock was at my left side. Thorn was at my right side. Lunar was at my tail. And Rose was just watching. Suddenly, I realized why she wasn't taking part in any torture sessions—she was fat! No, she was pregnant!

ROSE'S POV

I watched with disgust as they mercilessly tortured Bug. First the fire, and now this…. these were all things _they_ had done to me once. They were all bored one day, and, this was _before_ they had decided to get a slave, they built a fire. I was out hunting at the time, as I was the main hunter for them back then (although it was _completely_ of my own free will, or so I thought) and when I got back, I had a surprise waiting for me.

They leapt at me with burning stuff and Rock pinned me down so that my belly was facing up. They poked me with the burning objects and I screamed. I couldn't help it. They all just laughed.

When they were done, I just lay there, panting and bleeding, and my fur was black and singed in many places. I couldn't believe it. Exactly _what_ were they doing with _this_ kind of idea???

Later they apologized to me. I was still doubtful, though.

I was the youngest out of all of them. In those days, even _before_ the burning stuff, I was (technically) a slave. They had gotten me out of an agency where they sell little kits to suitable owners or masters. I think the whole thing is _stupid_. However, that's where I was for the first few moons of my life.

Once, they had stripped me of my fur, and another time, they had played a "fun" mind game with me. I was in Bug's shoes. Although, I was _sure_ that she had another name.

And now, I had an idea.

We had to escape.

PETALKIT'S POV

I screamed and screamed. They scraped their claws in right down to my skin, and ripped off bits of fur. I was bleeding profusely, and I felt funny. I felt _cold_, that's what.

It was, besides the mind game and the fire, the absolute _worst_ torture that I had ever had. Not only because of what they were doing right _now_, but because I knew what would happen.

You just can't win, can you?


	8. Chapter 8: A New Plan

**Well, here's Chapter 8! ;3 I actually had to go back and look what chapters I uploaded because I forgot.... but I hope that you like it!!! :D **

**I'm going away tomorrow for two days until Friday morning so I probably won't be back on until Friday afternoon!!! :) I hope that I get lots of reviews!!!! ;3 **

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Chapter 8

I shivered and cringed in my nest as I heard Bug.

She was yowling louder than rumbles of thunder on a particularly bad stormy night, and I could hear her tortured pleas, growing louder and more frequent as time went on.

"No, please…. stop, please, stop…. I'm going to be _cold_…. this is torture…. I might die…. can't you see that?! PLEASE, STOP!!!" she was yowling. She begged them for mercy, or them to stop…. but they just laughed, and carried on with what they were doing.

I could sympathize, because that had been _me_, long ago.

ROCK'S POV

Ha! Have you ever heard of a more _pathetic_ cat?! Rose was a lot like this, too. Screaming and pleading—as if _that's_ ever going to get anybody anywhere with us! We would torture them, and then…. we could _sell_ them. Maybe once Bug was trained enough, we could trade her in for _another_ cat!!! It would be funny if the cat that we traded Bug in for _became_ our slave!

Well, that might not work so well, because all of the masters were strong cats. But _still_.

We could always trade her in to the Slave Kit Agency, and then we'd get a _new_ slave to train!!! My _own_ agency wasn't going too well at the moment….

_But it _will_ be,_ I thought menacingly. _It _will_ be._

ROSE'S POV

All the other cats _knew_ I was pregnant. Well, except Bug. But I think she'd already noticed. I'd noticed her staring at my belly yesterday, which is getting fatter every day. Nobody except the guilty party knows that these are _his_ kits. And, sadly, it is one of this group's torturers. And, I mean…. to just _think_…. that I was tortured at one time by these cats, I'm almost in denial. But…. this cat is actually somewhat _special_ to me. He's…. better. Nicer than the others.

PETALKIT'S POV

When they were done, I was bleeding all over, red-hot with pain, and I was _cold_. _Freezing cold_. I painfully rolled over onto my belly and got up. I collapsed the first time, and then I _finally_ managed to get up. Rock slashed at my ear.

"Faster!" he hissed. "Go hunting for me."

"For _us_," Thorn corrected. "_I_ want something, too."

"Fine, then. For _us_," Rock conceded. He ripped a claw through my ear again. "Now, then…. GO!"

I quickly scampered off. I was still freezing, _and_ shivering with cold, but I knew I had to work for them, or else I would die.

***

Later, after my masters had eaten their fill, Rock came up to me again. I cowered on the ground submissively, but he just laughed and swatted at me with a huge paw. "I need you to tell me something," he told me. "Which cats in your little coven, where you came from, I mean; are the weakest? And I mean she-cats; I'm _finally_ going to get my slave kitten agency off the ground." He winked evilly. "And for that, I need your help. Kits who will fight back against my will aren't any good!!!"

I blinked, surprised. "Well…. I might have to come with you, for that. You don't know the names of any of these cats…." I whispered painfully. A cold breeze blew, and I shivered.

Rock snorted, and slashed at my chest. One of my earlier wounds ripped open, and blood dripped onto the ground. "Fine, then. Tonight, Lunar and I are going to collect cages and suitable quarters for them. Vixen will go collect supplies, such as collars and leashes, and Rose will stay here. You and Thorn will go collect kittens. After Vixen has collected enough supplies, she will join you."

"F-Fine, Master," I whispered, cowering to the ground as Rock slashed at my forehead. Blood was dripping from my head, my ears, _and_ my chest now.

"Get ready, everyone," Rock called. "It's going to be a long night."

I limped painfully into my nest of dung, curled up, and closed my eyes.


	9. Chapter 9: Taking Kits

**Well, _THIS_**** is potentially crappy.... but awesome. ;3 It is 4 pages long!!! :D ALSO, my shift key is pretty much broken, so i might not type in Capitals as much anymore. :( Sorry, guys. I KNOW that there are two on there, but.... it's just so much of a _hassle_**** to move my finger to the right shift key!!!! :( But, otherwise; it should be fine! ;3 If you want me to beta, I'll still do it.... the stupid damned shift key is still working SOMEWHAT(!!!!), so I'll be able to type all right. ;3 Anyways, ENJOY!!!! :D **

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Chapter 9

I was awakened with a rough prodding on my shoulder. The claw was big. Rock was standing above me.

"You're going with Thorn now," he grunted. "Get up." I tried to get up, but I couldn't; I was still tried. Rock sighed, and used one of his massive claws to poke into my scruff and set me upright. I was out of there first.

"So, then," Thorn said to me, when I reached his side. His eyes were surprisingly warm and happy tonight. "Let's go. We have kittens to get!"

I shuddered inwardly at the idea of stealing kits from my _own_ Clan, but Rock had already threatened me with death if I didn't do it. Besides, I mused, _One day_ I would escape. I could simply take the kits with me _then_!!!

….Or, maybe not. They would all be going to cruel masters, to be used as slaves….

We traveled over the hills for a long time. I was panting by the time we reached the ridge at the top of the hills leading down to the lake. It was after midnight, I guessed, and therefore we would have the _best_ chance of stealing the kits. I hadn't been gone long, only a few moons; and there were sure to be a few young kits we could use. I nudged Thorn.

"Okay, when I say it's safe, we can go," I whispered. "Then, when we're in the camp, there were a few newborn kits when you took me; they'll be grown up enough now to be taken."

Thorn nodded. "Okay," he whispered back. I could tell he was itching to claw me, but if he did, I would make a noise, and then our whole mission would be screwed.

Suddenly, there were footsteps behind us, and Thorn and I whirled around. We relaxed when we saw who it was.

"Oh, it's you guys…." Thorn murmured, relieved. It was Vixen and Lunar.

"We'll be able to carry _twice_ as many kittens now!" Vixen mewed, excited. She put something over Thorn's and my backs, and I twisted around to look at it.

Lunar mewed, exasperated, "It's a pouch, okay? You put kittens in it and then transport them easier that way."

"Bug will take the lightest kittens," Vixen decided. "If she can't carry them all, our whole mission will go up in flames. We need to _hurry_ once we've got them all."

Thorn nodded, and I signaled with my tail and mouthed, _Go._ We raced off across the moors.

We found a bush right outside the nursery. Thorn glared at me.

"Don't try anything, _Bug_," he hissed. "If you do, I'll personally hunt you down and _kill_ you. Got that?"

I trembled. "Y-Yes."

Thorn nodded. "Good." He flicked his tail and we snuck into the nursery. There were a _lot_ more kits than I remembered. But, then…. about five she-cats in my Clan _had_ been pregnant, so…. there were _bound_ to be a lot of kits.

I saw Thorn, Lunar, and Vixen each taking a couple of kits. There were a few _really_ young kits, but they would die without their mothers…. I settled for a few kits that looked like they were just about to get off their mothers' milk.

Lunar snuck out of the nursery again, and headed in the general direction of the apprentices' den. _He must be getting some apprentices,_ I thought curiously.

I grabbed three small kits: they were Whitewind's kits.

"Sorry, Whitewind," I murmured, picking up a tortoiseshell she-cat, a white she-cat, and a pale gray-and-white tabby she-cat. I guessed that the father was Leaftail, as he was tortoiseshell-and-white.

I couldn't run away. Vixen was glaring at me the _whole_ time. So was Thorn. Neither of them would let me out of their sight.

We met outside the camp. Lunar was a big cat, so he was carrying a few younger apprentices. I glanced at them sadly. They had been just kits when I was taken….

We were already far out of the territory before I realized that they were lying on a big leaf.

"We'll drag this back to the camp," Lunar whispered.

"Um…. shouldn't we wake them up? It might go faster then. Simply cover their mouths and claw them to wake them up," Vixen hissed.

Lunar nodded. "Good idea." He clawed the apprentices' backs, and they startled.

"Bug," Vixen hissed. "Do the same to your kits. Threaten them. Torture them."

I nodded, bewildered. She was asking _me_ to torture somebody?!?! Usually _I_ was the one who got tortured!!! But I did it anyway. I put my pouch of kits on the ground and grabbed them. They were just newborns, practically; they were born after I left; they wouldn't recognize me. I didn't know their names.

I grabbed the tortoiseshell. I shoved her little head into the dirt and she woke up, gasping. She got a mouthful of dirt and I let go a bit. She brought up her head and wailed. I gasped, and shoved her head back down again.

"Right, kit," I hissed at her. "You work for _us_ now. Be obedient, or you will die." I looked up at Lunar, and he nodded coldly at me.

The kit began to cry. I flipped her over and clawed at her belly, and she screamed. I shoved a paw into her mouth and she gagged. I dumped her back into the pouch and picked up the white one.

_Her pretty white fur,_ I thought. _It's all going to be stained red by the time we're done with her. Such a shame…._

She was actually crying when I set her on the ground. This would be easy, I thought. I shoved this one's face into the ground, too. She shut up real quick after that.

_Oh…. thank StarClan,_ I thought. _She stopped quickly. That's always good._

I hissed as menacingly at her as I could (I'm still a kit too), "You work for _us_ now. Is that clear?!" I spat in her face to show that I _really_ meant it.

"Y-Yes," she mumbled, trembling. Her voice was all blocked out by the mud, but I could still hear it.

"Call the bigger cats _Master_," I hissed.

"Yes, Master," she mumbled again.

I turned around, and Lunar nodded at me again. "Good," he said. "Now torture her a bit."

"Keep _quiet_," I hissed. I flipped her over, brought my claws down on her belly, and raked them slowly down her belly. She screamed. I kicked her aside, into the pouch, and grabbed the other kit. It was the last one; the black one.

_Oh…. great StarClan!!! I'm actually getting _better_ at this kind of torturing stuff!!!_ I gasped.

Then, I quickly shook my head. No time for that now. I had to torture this last kit. I decided that I would let her off easy. She _was_ the smallest, after all.

_She'd make a good torture subject and hunting slave for some bigger cat,_ I thought sadly. I didn't want to, but I knew it was true. I knew that she would be a good slave for somebody someday.

I raked my claws over her belly slowly. She woke up with a screech.

"You work for _us_ now," I hissed menacingly. "Live with torture, and hunt for us. That's the way you will live." I kicked her in the wound and she screamed and cried. I put her carefully back in the pouch and saw that everybody except Thorn was done. He motioned me over.

"Right," he whispered. "This is a Clan apprentice. She won't be just a regular slave; she will be a queen."

"What do you mean by that?" I whispered back.

"She'll be used to make more slaves, or she will be put up for auction, and a tom can buy her for a mating party. A mating party is where toms come up and use and torture the she-cat," Thorn explained patiently.

"Wh-What—that's _horrible_!" I hissed, shocked.

Thorn raked his claws over my ear. "Yes, but that's just the way it goes," he said. "Consider yourself lucky not to be one of _those_ she-cats. Being a slave is good enough for _you_."

I blinked. "Y-Yes, Master."

He nodded. "Good."

"We need to get back to camp!" Lunar hissed. "The sun will be rising soon, and do you _really_ want to have to stuff those kits into the cages _while_ they're awake?! Or would you see them wake up _inside_ the cage?"

Thorn dipped his head. "Good point."

We picked up our captives and ran over the moors.

When we got back, Rock was waiting for us. I watched everybody else go in ahead of me, and then I stepped through the entrance into the camp.

Rock lashed out at my ear as I passed. "Busy?" he growled.

I nodded fearfully. "Y-Yes, Master. We've been busy, busy, busy!" I laughed nervously.

"Well, after you're done _that_, go hunting for us," Rock hissed. "I'm hungry!"

I dipped my head. "Yes, Master." I moved on and scampered towards where all the others were going: a hole in the hedge at the far side of the camp. I noticed that there was a cage next to the opening. I wondered what _that_ was for.

When I entered the hole in the hedge, I stared around in awe. Here was a mostly enclosed space, surrounded by sharp, prickly brambles. The ground looked a bit like those Twoleg Thunderpaths that I had once seen when they had taken me to be burned.

But what surprised me most were the cages. There were rows upon rows of cages, one on top of the other. All around the circle, there were rows of cages; one cage on the top, one cage on the bottom. So far, the new kits were getting placed in the bottom cages. I ventured forward warily.

"Bug," Thorn greeted me. "Here, you have three kits….?"

"Yes," I said. "They're all siblings."

"Well, I don't mind placing siblings together, so put them into that cage right there." He pointed with his tail to a slightly larger cage than what I had seen so far. All the other cages were each holding two cats, I noticed. I stared around.

"Where are the older she-cats?" I asked.

"Oh, they're in the other place," Thorn said nonchalantly, pointing towards another hole in the hedge.

"….Oh." I looked to where the hole was, and could see some cages, with sleeping mounds of fur inside of them.

"Oh, by the way…." Thorn motioned for me to follow him out of the den. I obediently did. He motioned to the cage beside the hedge. I looked at it fearfully.

"This is where you will be when potential slave-buyers come to look at our slaves," Thorn said. "You will _also_ be staying here most of the time, now. It was Rock's idea. You will _also_ stay here at night, and you won't speak and you won't come out when potential slave-buyers come. You hear me?"

I nodded fearfully.

"Good. Now, go hunting!" Thorn hissed, and I scampered off, into the forest.


	10. Chapter 10: Rock's Friend

**OMG. I had to type everything AGAIN because it went all weird on me. O.o; **

**Well, ANYWAYS; this chapter is short. It got off to a REALLY bad start so I ended it early. All will be well in the next chapter, though; I can promise you of that! :) **

**Here is a HORRIBLE story; you will go all like :( when you read it: **

**"I went out and bought two new female Betta fish from PetSmart. I tried to put them in with my OTHER female Betta fish. Her name is Tropica and she's quite big, right? She's red and blue. I got a blue one named Aqua the same size as Tropica and a pink one named Taffy that is REALLY tiny. :( :( :(  
They started fighting, and I had to separate Aqua and Tropica. They were ripping each other's fins off, for God's sake! I HAD to help them! :( ...  
So, I put Aqua in ANOTHER tank, but Tropica went after Taffy. I TRIED to put her back in the pet store's container, but Taffy flopped at the very moment I was putting her into there and fell onto my knee! I was like, "NO!" and tried to get her and she fell and got lost in my bean bag chair!  
I FINALLY managed to get her ALIVE (phew) and put her in the container. I put her in Aqua's tank and put Aqua in the tank downstairs. Taffy now has a tear in her tail and looks like a scissors-tail Betta, and Aqua and Tropica have holes in their tails.  
:( :( :( :( I'm such a horrible Betta owner! :( It was totally by accident but the pet store owner DID tell me I could put three of them together! :( So I did, and now LOOK what happened! Tropica is still mad; Taffy has a tear in her tail and is scarred for life because of her falling on the floor and all that, and Aqua is in a tank with a filter downstairs! :("**

**I put Taffy in the tank downstairs, too; they both seem pretty happy, and I will NEVER try to put any other fish in with Tropica again!!!! :o Female Bettas are SUPPOSED to live together!!!! :o Hmm.... I wonder if Tropica is really a male in disguise as a female....?!?! ;) :o **

**Well, anyways; my OTHER tropical fishies (who are NOT Betta fish!!!! :o ) are MUCH more accepting of Aqua and Taffy, so I'm keeping them in THEIR tank. :) **

**....What else was I going to say???? I can't remember.... :( It was about fish, though.**

**Oh, something else!!!! :) I had my birthday party today and I got _$50_**** worth of gift cards for my local mall, AND $50 for Chapters!!!! ^^; I'm REALLY happy now.**

**O.o; So many events.... :o **

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Chapter 10

A week or so passed. During that time, it was just the usual: hunt, be tortured, and now train the slaves and stay in the cage all the rest of the time.

I lay in my cage, kind of bored. I rested my head on my paws and looked out. My stomach was growling. I hadn't gotten anything to eat in a while, but Rose gave me scraps of food every now and then. I was grateful for it, but it _still_ didn't fill my rumbling stomach.

"Bug!" Rock barked sharply in my ear. I whirled around, startled, and saw that he was staring at me from the outside of the cage. "There is somebody coming to view the slaves soon, at sun-down. By then, I want you to have hunted for me _and_ cleaned up the camp!"

"Yes, Master," I murmured, dipping my head respectfully.

"_Well_." Rock glared at me. "_Go_, then. Be back _before_ sun-down."

"Yes, Master!" I said, raising my tail, and then I scampered off.

I got out into the forest and looked around. I wondered if there was some way that I could let those little cats escape. They didn't _deserve_ to be used as slaves and tortured. In the past week _alone_, we had already stolen kits from ThunderClan, ShadowClan, _and_ RiverClan, too. We took the toms as well as the she-cats, and now _all_ the kits in _all_ the Clans were gone. Even WindClan; we went back there and took the rest of the kits, too. Rock _even_ sent us out to Twolegplace to wait and watch, and steal kittypet kittens!!! We have a few more apprentices, too. Rock is planning to sell _all_ of them. Some of them are _probably_ going to join his group sooner or later, though…. and be _free_.

A dark, black shiver of envy passed through me as I thought that. Free. _Free._

_Free_ was something that I would never be again; unless, of course, I managed to escape.

_Highly unlikely,_ I thought. I scowled. I _wanted_ to be free! And I _would_ be free someday. It would take a while, but free I would be…. and I would rescue as many kits as I could, too….

I shook my head and concentrated on hunting again. I heard a rustle in the trees. The rustle was coming from the branches just above me.

_A blackbird,_ I thought. _That would be good._

I backed up slowly, and stalked lightly through the bushes until it was right in front of me. It was just a little bit higher than me, but I could jump….

….And jump I did. I jumped as high as I could, and…. I got it!

I buried the blackbird for later and stalked off again.

***

Later, when I got back to camp, I was somewhat exhausted. I had been working _hard_.

However, I still had to clean up the camp. I gave Rock and my other masters their food, got tortured, and started working.

****

Later, when Rock's _friend_ came, the camp was all cleaned up. Rock was ready.

"Now, _you_," he growled, "will stay in the cage the whole time _unless_ I call you. Got that?"

"Y-Yes, Master," I mumbled, my head bowed down.

"Good." Rock slammed his paw down on the top of my head. I felt woozy. I felt _dizzy_. It almost overwhelmed me as I began stumbling to my cage. Rock opened the door and shoved me in. He latched it shut behind him and welcomed his friend to the camp.

"Welcome, Blood!" Rock greeted the tom.

"Greetings, Rock." Blood lashed his tail. "My full name is Blood _Splash_, as you already know…. or, I _thought_ that you did. Have you forgotten?"

"N-No," Rock giggled nervously. _How unlike him!_ "I was just teasing you." He winked.

Blood flicked his tail dismissively. "Yes…. very good. Well, _anyways_; I came here to see the _kits_, not just chat idly with _you_. Where are they?"

"Ah—oh, yes; they're in here," Rock said, blinking. He led the way past my cage into the slave keeping place's entrance.

Rock's friend looked at me, seemingly interested, as they passed. When they were gone, I shuddered inwardly. What were they planning to do? Would they come out with a kit?


	11. Chapter 11: What Rose Used To Be

**Hey; I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!! ^^; I just got over Writer's Block, as you all probably already KNOW; and this chapter was just sitting here, undone, so I thought, _Why not do it?!?!_**

**Yes; I was pretty desperate to finish this chapter! ^^; This was pretty urgent on my list of " Needs." (Which actually just exists _inside my head,_**** but still! ^^; **

**The contest is still going on for Petalkit's mother! ^^; I will be displaying the entries I have at the end of the chapter; if your entry is not there please re-submit it as soon as possible! ^^; You _may_**** review it to me, but I prefer PMs, instead! ^^; **

** Well, thens; enjoy! ^^; Lots of things will become obvious this chapter! ^^; **

**Oh, and yeah, some part of this chapter IS just kindaof-sortaof me rambling; please just ignore that and read it as best as you can! ^^; It was written in the early stages of my Writer's Block, see, and I couldn't be bothered to change that tonight when I finished the chapter****; so I just left it like that way! ^^; **

**Okay, then, nows; am I boring you? ^^; Please just enjoy the chapter and let it be known that _my grandmother is coming tomorrow and then I will _****probably_ be getting my Cardinal Tetras (for my female Betta fish tank) and my two little Dwarfies so that my sisters can have hamsters in _****her_ room, too!_**** ^^; Oh, yeah; and I absolutely can't WAIT to write the next chapter!!!! ^^; It will be up soon! Now, BYEES; and remember to see if your contest entry is there, and if it isn't or if you still want to submit something, then HURRY UP!!!! ^^; **

* * *

Chapter 11

I listened hard as the two, Rock and Blood, went into the cat-holding prison-of-sorts.

"This is a good kit," Rock was saying. "What do you think about her?"

"Yes; can I take a look, please?" Blood asked politely.

Rock opened the cage and I heard him dragging a kit out. She squealed. "No! I don't _want_ to be sold!"

"Well, too bad," Rock growled. "You probably _are_ going to be sold today."

She squealed loudly as he threw her down on the floor. I heard her back hitting the floor and I instantly felt sorry for her.

"Can I try torturing her?" Blood laughed.

"She's very sensitive to pain," Rock warned. "She _always_ screeches when she's tortured."

"Ah, yes; that's a _good_ thing." Blood laughed loudly. "Get ready, kit! Torture is a-coming!"

I heard the kit screech in pain. She started to pant as he raked his claws down one part of her body.

I turned away, not wanting to listen. I sighed. If I ever _did_ let all the kits escape, one kit would _not_ be coming with us.

Finally, I heard Rock saying, "Is this the one that you want?"

"Yes, please; this is the one I want," Blood confirmed politely.

"Wow, you're very polite," Rock laughed.

"Well, it runs in the family! Even if I _am_ supposed to be 'evil,' I'm still polite. It helps with getting what you want, y'know?!"

I watched, somewhat fascinated, as Rock and Blood came out. Blood was holding a small kit on a leash. There was blood flowing freely from small wounds on her back and paws, and my heart instantly went out to her.

_Why must this be happening to her?!_ I wondered. _She doesn't _deserve_ this! If it hadn't been for me being a slave and Rock having his utterly _stupid_ idea, _none_ of this would have happened!_

"Well, Blood; will you be visiting us again?" Rock asked the other tom.

"You can bet your ears I will!" Blood purred. "I would like to see some of your slave training techniques."

"Do you have any idea of when you'll be back?" Rock asked, tipping his head to one side.

Blood smiled, and closed his eyes, as if he was thinking. Then, he finally spoke. He looked at Rock. "I'll be back sometime next week!"

"I have an idea; how about we meet together again on the full moon?" Rock suggested.

"Sure! I'll come back then," Blood decided.

I turned away, thinking. _Hmm…. If Rock's friend is coming back on the full moon…. I'll have seven days to prepare! I can escape! This will be difficult, though…. hmm…._

"Well, Bug." Rock padded over to me when Blood and his new slave kit had gone. "I've decided that it's too much of a hassle having to let you out of your cage every time we want you to hunt for us or something. We have to go over to your cage and lie back down every time, and I am too lazy to constantly have to do that. So, your nest will be the dirt-place." He pointed to the dirt-place entrance. "You can still hear us calling from there, and it's the perfect den for you."

"Bug!" a voice hissed as I crept up on a mouse. I gasped, and turned around. Seeing nothing there, I turned back to the mouse. It was gone.

"Bug!" the voice hissed again. This time, I turned around and let out a yowl.

"What do you want?" I cried.

Just then, a cat padded out of the bushes. "Rose!" I gasped. "What are you doing out here?!"

Rose looked around warily, and then whispered to me, "Bug. I have to tell you something. Rock is thinking of picking another slave from the current cats he has in the cages now; and once he does, he will kill you. Once I have my kits, he will kill me, too."

"What? Why?!" I gasped, incredulous.

"Well…." Rose looked down at the ground, her head bowed in shame. She whispered, "I used to be a slave, too; just like you, Bug."

The fur on my neck rose and bristled. "W-Wh-What?!?!" I gasped.

"It's true," Rose murmured. "Please, Bug; please believe me! I am not a liar like the rest of them; I—"

"It's okay." I silenced her by putting my tail lightly over her mouth. "I-It's fine. I know. You're better than the rest of them."

"Thank you, Bug," she whispered, looking up at me gratefully.

"You're welcome," I replied back politely.

"_Bug!_" she hissed suddenly. I jumped back, startled. Rose went on, "Bug! I _hate_ that name! I absolutely _hate_ it! I _hate_ calling you it and I just _hate_ the name in general! Surely you _must_ have another name! Someplace…. Sometime…. Somewhere?"

I nodded solemnly. "Yes. I _do_ have another name; and I think you'll like it. I used to be called—no, wait; I _am_ called—Petalkit."

"Petalkit! What a nice name." Rose let out a purr. "Even if it _is_ a little strange; it's better than your 'old' name, _Bug_, at least!"

"Yes," I purred. "It's nice, I think; I like it, too. In fact, I've _always_ liked it."

"It suits you, you know." Rose smiled at me. "I like it, too; but Rock and the others will not call you that!" she said suddenly. "So, remember that; it'll help you."

"I already know." I nodded. "When I was first brought here, I tried to tell them my name; I got a fierce clawing for _that_ one, now let me tell ya!"

"You know…. Bug—um, uh; I mean…. _Petalkit_…. you seem, well…. _different_." Rose scrunched up her face in concentration, as if she didn't know exactly _what_ to say!

"Oh, you've noticed?" I looked down at the ground somewhat unhappily. "I'm trying to be more mature and optimistic, but it's hard; can't you tell?"

Rose nodded. "I understand. But, Petalkit…. did you hear anything about how we could escape, you know; something to help us?"

"Yeah!" I nodded vigorously. "I heard Blood saying that he will come back in one week; on the full moon. He will bring his slave kit with him then; you could see if you could get one of the other cats in this group to help us, and then we could escape!" I let out a purr. "What do you think?! Wait a minute; will your kits have been born by then?"

Rose shook her head slowly. "No…. at least, I hope not; they should probably be born the night _after_ the full moon! At least, that's what _Thorn_ said…. I sure hope that he's right; this could work out very well for our plan!"

"Okay; I—"

A cat suddenly stepped out of the bushes.

Rose and I both gasped. _We've been caught!_ I thought in a panic.

"Gah!" Rose yowled. "What are _you_ doing here?!"

It was Lunar.

* * *

**Well; here are the current contest entries! Remember to SUBMIT YOUR ENTRIES!!!! ^^; The contest ends (the deadline is on....) August 1st, and then the judging will go on until the 10th! ^^; Then, _I_**** will look through the votes, pick out the winning entries, and then vote for _my_**** favourite! (My vote counts _twice_****! ^^;) Then; THE WINNERS WILL BE DECIDED!!!! ^^; So; look forward to that! ^^; **

**Unfair Labor Contest Entries**

Submitted by Lightkit: Flowernose/Flowerclaw/Moonflower—a tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes, a single white paw, and completely black tail

Submitted by Free Runner at Heart: Moonflower—a silvery she-cat, with pale blue eyes

Submitted by Abby-Whitlock-Hale-Cullen: Sorrelrain—a pretty tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with clear blue eyes

Submitted by LenzieKat: Shadestorm—a silvery-gray she-cat with one black front leg and a black circle around her right eye and a black-tipped tail; blue eyes

Submitted by Meadowpaw: Coaltail—a black she-cat with red specks and orange eyes  
Turtleback—a tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes  
Brownstripe—a brown she-cat with some white stripes, green eyes

Submitted by ItachiFangirl8: Argentine—a silver she-cat with sea-foam green eyes 


	12. Chapter 12: Lunar's Not All Bad

** .... Soo .... I haven't posted in a white, have I .... Just chalk it all up to pure laziness and writers' block for months and months after the 100 Tales Challenge, 'kay? :D FINE. IT'S NOT THAT. I wrote, like, a million starts to little chapters, though. That I never finished. XD Did that make any sense ? :O I also spend WAY too much time on and Chicken Smoothie .... Those sites are AWESOME, by the way! ^.^; Anyways, this chapter is mainly talking, and it's a cliffie, 'cause I have no imagination. At all. I have to find my little memory stick thingy-ma-jogger that has the Scarlett Fever chapters on it.... I may update that, later, too.... ^.^; **

**I also was on vacation in Florida for an entire week. Where I, guess what, started my book that I may someday publish (the voice in my head -- hmm, I'll tell you about animas/daemons later -- says, "Dream on!"), which is about fairies, and, blah, blah, BLAH. Anyways, *I* like the plot. But, of course, being only 13, it may take me a few years to write, right? Oh, well; no matter. :D **

**I *also* wrote a sick 5-page M-rated fic .... thingy .... That I deleted. XD But I kept some of it! ^.^; I need to find that other file that I had, too .... **

**Well, in any case. Enough rambling. Enjoy this crappy chapter, and be warned that I'll be writing a bit more, soon ! ^.^; *needs to read back through UL to find out when they're going to escape* XD

* * *

**

Chapter 12

"Greetings, you two." Lunar dipped his head towards us, as if nothing had just happened. "What are you two fine she-cats doing here?"

"I…. um…. uh—I can explain," Rose stammered.

Lunar laughed. "Don't worry; I heard _everything_!"

"Ah!" I stumbled back in shock. "Seriously?!"

"Yeah, I did; I was wondering where you were." Lunar let out a purr.

"Well…. are you—?!" Rose stuttered.

"Am I going to tell? Hmm…." Lunar looked as if he were considering it. "No."

"B-But, Lunar—even though you are my mate, and all—don't you still have duties to Rock? Like, won't Vixen read your thoughts and then force you to tell them?!" Rose's voice got considerably more high-pitched as she went on.

I, however, was now in shock; Lunar—of all cats—was Rose's mate? Seriously?!

Lunar laughed. "No, no! I will not tell anybody. I just…. _wouldn't_. You are my mate, after all; I want to help!"

Rose sighed in considerable relief. I was able to speak again, and now I could ask my questions:

"You are Rose's mate? Seriously?! And you wouldn't tell Rock?!" I stammered.

"Yes; and yes." Lunar bowed his head. "I am not all bad, you know!"

"It's true." Rose spoke quietly. "He's not. However, Rock is; he actually forced me to mate with some cat and I'm just glad that it wasn't Thorn! He would have torn me to shreds."

"Hmm." I was now processing this valuable information.... I was thinking, _Oh, wow! Who would have known that, at some point, Rose was a slave; and I never expected her to have to mate!_ "Umm…. _interesting_," was all I could say.

"And you know how Rose had to mate with me?!" Lunar gasped out suddenly.

"Umm…. yeah?"

"Well, he's had she-cats in the group before," he mewed quickly. "And absolutely _all_ of them, at around twelve moons to eighteen moons, have had to mate; they were _each and every one of them killed_."

I gasped in horror. "Me, too?! Will I be killed, also?!"

"Well, you _may_ have to mate—in that case, yes. I'm so sorry.... Petalkit, is it?" Lunar bowed his head.

"Yes." I nodded in confirmation. "My name is _Petalkit_."

"And now, isn't it time that you were hunting, Petalkit?!" Rose broke in suddenly.

"Uhm.... Yes." I had _just_ remembered. "Yes, I should be hunting, not talking away."

So, Lunar dipped his head to me, and Rose just nodded; I started bounding off through the forest while the two of them started back towards Rock's camp.

****

Later that day, Rock came up to me (I was lying outside the dirt-place, making the most of the weak leaf-fall rays), and put a _huge_ paw on my belly, claws slightly out.

"Hmm.... I have decided," he announced.

"Decided what, Rock?" Vixen called, winking at him. He winked back and looked down at me with a look of disgust and disdain in his eyes.

"I have decided.... who shall be Bug's mate!" he declared, his head held high.

Lunar and Thorn looked at each other. Who....?

_Who?_ I trembled at the thought. What if it was....

"I shall take on Bug as a pleasure mate and a slave!" he announced.

"Ahh!" This time I couldn't help it. I let out a horrified screech. _Thank StarClan we can escape soon!_

"Shut up, Bug!" Rock slapped me in the mouth with an unsheathed paw. I let out another screech; I couldn't help it. He had cut my _mouth_!

"A torture session is in order, no?" laughed Vixen.

"I agree!" Thorn quickly agreed.

Lunar startled, then yowled, "Me, too!" I knew he was on my side, but we both knew what would happen to him if they somehow suspected he didn't want to torture me. It was then I remembered his warnings about Vixen, although I was careful not to catch her attention on that. I quickly pretended, in my mind, that it was just wishful thinking.

Vixen glared at me, then suspiciously at Lunar and Rose. They were better at the mind-shielding thing than I was, so when Vixen gave up and glared back at me, giving me a tiny, silent hiss, I was relieved, but I knew that she'd keep stalking my mind, willing me to slip up, because she knew something was going on. I shuddered, glancing back up at Rock.

"Well...." Rock inspected his claws. "I'm not going to mate with Bug, just yet.... I can do that later. Besides, you're a bit young," he hissed down at me. I just stared back up at him. "Whatever," he continued. "Time for torture!"

Vixen positioned herself at my right side; Thorn at my left. Lunar was at my tail, and Rock was at my head. I caught Rose watching from her den. She looked sympathetic; like usual, I mused.

When Rock yowled, "_Torture time!_" with his claws ready and above me, I caught Vixen staring at me like I was a piece of prey, and I prepared for the worst pain of my life.


	13. Chapter 13: Rose's Sacrifice

**So. Uhh. It's been a while, eh? XD I'm sorry about that, but I kind of had Writers' Block. ^.^; And then, I've lately had some completely irrational fears that have been terrifying me, and since my only safe haven is writing, I've been writing during school and all of that. ^.^; **

**This story will take some pretty weird twists soon, and I have to go back and read the entire story before I can continue...! XD But I have up to Chapter 16 done, so... ^.^; Enjoy! :DD

* * *

**

Unfair Labor Chapter 13

PETALKIT'S POV

"All right, time for torture!" screeched Rock. I trembled under the weight of those huge claws.

_What if they kill me?_ I wondered worriedly.

All of a sudden, I saw my mother. No, not my mother—the spirit of my mother! There was an apparition of her floating just above the ground, watching me with sadness in her eyes.

_Be careful; he's about to snap…_ she warned, vanishing a second later. As she left, I heard the words: _You are protected from Vixen's mind-reading abilities for the rest of today._ I trembled even harder.

_So that's what she told me! That's what she meant! I need to be _gone_! Right now!_ I glanced over towards Rose, who was staring at the spot that my mother had disappeared off to…. _Great StarClan! She's seen her, too!_ I suddenly realized. Things were getting more complicated by the moment, but if I didn't do something as soon as possible those worries would be no longer!

ROSE'S POV

I had seen the cat, too, and heard her whispers. _Was I supposed to hear that?_ I wondered. My answer came a moment later from the sound of a foreign murmur inside my head.

_Yes…. You must help her…. Please hurry…._ It was like a breath on wind, and I had to strain my ears to hear. Then I shook my head.

_That's silly. It's in your _head_, for StarClan's sake!_ I berated myself.

That settled, I decided to see what I could do. I took a few paw steps out of my den and suddenly I paused, one paw up in the air, mouth open slightly.

_StarClan? Why'd I say _StarClan_? What am I turning into?_ Then, I slowly shook my head. I looked up, embarrassed, but nobody had seen, except Petalkit, who was staring at me with a horrible, horrible expression of fear in her eyes. They were wide and had the look of any abused creature.

_You looked like that, once._ The voice inside my head certainly wasted no time in remarking on _that_! I found it somewhat amusing.

_Yes, but now…_ I thought back. _Now, I'm no longer in danger! Lunar is going to help us, isn't he? And I have to help Petalkit right now, right?_ I looked over at her again. The look of horror in her eyes deepened as Rock moved in front of her, probably showing off a specific body part in all its glory.

_No! Don't think about that, you silly goose! You'll just get scared again,_ the voice in my head snapped. Then, it softened. _I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Anyways, how do you expect to save Petalkit when your belly is full of unborn kits?_

I looked down at my stomach. It was true; I couldn't be too far away from giving birth at this point. I looked down at the camp before me. I was on the ledge just above my den. Nobody looked at me. _I'll be fine!_ I reassured myself. _How will you do it while you're pregnant, though?_ The voice in my head was screaming now. _Your kits are at risk!_

"Well, I'll just have to take my chances, then," I muttered under my breath. It was then that I leaped.

PETALKIT'S POV

Rock moved away from me while still keeping me pinned down. I glanced back over towards Rose only to see her taking a gigantic leap off of the stone ledge above her den!

_What is she doing?_ I screamed inside my head. Nobody but I had seen her. She landed on her back with a hard thump, screaming.

"Ay-owwwww!" she yowled. "Somebody, please help me!"

Rock glanced back, startled, while Lunar dashed over to his mate.  
"NO! ROSE! Don't leave me, please," he begged. "Think of our kits!"

To my great luck, Rose started panting, "The kits…. They may be coming….!" Rock, Vixen, and Thorn, my tormentors, dashed over to her. She was lying at an odd angle so that she could pretend she was having kits! I suddenly got it.

_But why would she do that?_ I wondered.

Suddenly, she looked over at me. She mouthed the word, "Run!" while all the rest of them were standing above her, their backs to me, trying to figure out what to do.

I, although weak from terror, quickly scrambled up. I shook a bit on one of my first steps, and the feeling of urgency in my stomach grew stronger by the heartbeat.

_I have to get out!_

I took another step, and collapsed this time! I pulled myself up as fast as possible, and started to run. Oh, and I just _ran_. I ran and ran and ran! I gloated as I left the camp through the main entrance.

Rose suddenly looked in the direction of the little tunnel at the other side of the camp; the one between the dirt-place and the slave cage den. "Bug!" she snarled, although she sounded weak.

Vixen looked up. "Bug!" she echoed. That was all I heard. I barely saw Thorn whip his head around to look, too, and I saw Lunar seeming to scan the camp before I could see no more. The camp had a weird entrance, one that encompassed of a large, straight, tunnel, into which you could see for about five fox-lengths. I made sure to stay away from the edges, so the thorns wouldn't catch in my pelt and rustle, and I was grateful for the cold rocky ground that the tunnel had luckily been built over, as I ran. All of a sudden, I slipped! It made a huge strange noise, and in a heartbeat Rock was bounding over to me. Rose got up behind him.

Rock flattened me to the ground, and I looked down with a shudder to see that his—his _length_!—was right above me. All of a sudden, Rose pushed me away! She located her area right under him as he plunged down, violating her as she screamed.

_She saved me. She saved me!_ The thought ran through my head a thousand times as I scrambled up and flew out into the forest, propelled by a power I didn't even know I had.

I quickly pushed Petalkit out of the way, knowing that I had to save her! I had been a slave once before. I could handle it again! I screeched and clawed the air uselessly as Rock came down again and again, violating me mercilessly. Blood bubbled up in the opening, but he didn't seem to care. The stuff that came out and flowed onto the ground and in my fur around my area was pinkish-white and milky. I shuddered.

_Ugh!_ Why did this—this _monster_—of a cat have to be doing this _now_? I was good and stunned a few moments later when finally he stopped, and I was out of breath as he dragged me to the cage at the other end of the clearing. He dumped me inside of it with an ominous promise of, "I'll do that again later," as he and the others fanned out and raced out of all the ends of the clearing possible to find Petalkit. I bent my head over and nursed my wounds in the sudden silence that prevailed.


	14. Chapter 14: Escape Plan Thwarted

**Lots of strangeness, but at least she got away! ^.^; This chapter is kind of gruesome, at least in Petalkit's view, so, beware! XD **

* * *

Unfair Labor Chapter 14

I ran as fast as I could, although I worried about Rose. Surely they would have dumped her in my old cage before spreading out to look for me. I knew I had a good head start, as they had all waited until Rock gave them orders to run after me, but… the worry was still there.

My chest was tired, and my lungs were burning. My heart raced as I pushed myself onward still, trying to save every iota of strength I possibly could. However, I was losing energy fast.

_Where does their territory end? Where does the Twolegplace begin?_ That's what I was looking for right now. I wanted to find the Twolegplace, because then I could vanish into another cat's garden, away from them, and hopefully all would be well! I would have to see when I could save the other cats, though.

_That's five days away! How do you know they won't be guarding the camp extra well? They might, you know, seeing as you're not there, and what if they torture Rose to get the information out of her?_ the little voice in my head asked.

_No time for questions! We'll figure it out when we get there! Maybe I can get the Clans to help me!_ I still pushed myself onward, feeling stronger now. _Perhaps my endurance is just building up?_

I knew that there was still a risk that, as I passed through Twolegplace, that if I was still weak, that I could be picked up by one of the evil cat groups in the Twolegplace. My fur fluffed out at that one, and my puffed tail flew out behind me as I ran. I knew that there were slave agencies in the Twolegplace that did things a _lot_ worse than Rock's agency! His was still pretty bad, I thought, but, then again: I had never experienced anything else! I had heard of groups of cats who lived together and kept she-cats as mating slaves, mating with them every single day. I had _also_ heard of toms who used their she-cats for a year until they were no longer useful, and then covered their fur with badger dung and other stuff to freeze their limbs up. They would be left outside overnight and then in the morning the caking would have hardened, rendering them not able to move. About fifty toms would mate with each she-cat during the day, and the only parts of them moving were their areas. Supposedly, toms liked them better if they squelched while mating. The she-cats would die the next day.

I shuddered. _What if I get picked up by a group like that?_ I worried.

_You won't. Don't worry._ The voice in my head was confident. I imagined another cat standing—or, wait, _running_—beside me, fur clean, shoulders strong, thrown back, and chest puffed out, head held high, and chin up to face the world.

I wondered how I looked. Probably fairly pitiful! My fur was probably smeared with dirt, and I probably had scars all over the place! I shuddered, slowing down slightly, even as I ran.

I blinked. I had been running for a long time now, and as soon as I slowed down even slightly, that was it. I had only slowed down a little bit, yet, my legs just stopped working! I sighed, dragging myself over to the base of a tree and lying down on the patch of moss that was conveniently situated beside the tree. It was so lush, so thick! I purred at the feeling, which was something that I hadn't experienced for many months. It felt a bit like warm fur.

Oh, I had felt warm fur, all right, but it had always been accompanied by sharp claws that just wanted to make me bleed.

_None of this comforting stuff…. And, yet, it just feels _so_ good…._ I snuggled down in the moss nest, wrapped my tail over my nose, and fell asleep.

When I woke up in the morning, I felt much better. The forest was still, at least on the ground. In the trees, birds chirped happily, and I got up and stretched. I sat back down to lick myself before I set off.

My tongue practically curdled at the taste of some of the dung on my fur, but I had to get it off! After a few attempts, however, that was proven impossible, so I decided to look around to see if there was a river anywhere nearby. As I walked, confident that this was no longer Rock's territory, as I had never been here before, I also noticed that there were no other scents of cats. I heard a rustling, moving sound through the trees that sounded like a river, and I emerged into the clearing with the small stream flowing through it undisturbed.

After cleaning up my wounds and scratches, and also dampening my fur just enough in the icy cold wetness to get the dirt off, I set off again.

A little while later, maybe around sun-high, I came across a few cats that didn't seem to want to harm me.

"Hi," I mewed cautiously. "Can you tell me where the residential area of Twolegplace is?"

The reddish-brown tabby tom with green eyes that lazed around on a shallow, sunny, flat, rock, looked up lazily and blinked slowly at me. "Travel straight onwards until you reach the start of downtown. Go through that, and then…." He listed off the rest of the directions, and I nodded gratefully when he was done.

"That'll help me. Thanks!" I let out a purr, also glancing at a huge white tom with leafy green eyes. The two toms started to fall back asleep as I set out again.

I had traveled for the entire day. I was just entering Twolegplace, the downtown part, when there was a commotion in the bushes behind me.

"Oh!" I was pleased to see that the reddish-brown tabby and the white tom that I had seen earlier melt out of the bushes beside me. "Have you come to travel with me?"

"Yes, we have," the white one purred. The tabby came on my left, and the white one walked on my right. We walked for a little while, and later took a detour down Twolegplace that the tabby hadn't told me about before. We walked along a deserted alleyway for a little while, and I thought I smelled their scents on the trail.

"Why are we going this way?" I asked.

"Oh, another cat passing through this afternoon told us that there was a detour. We figured that we'd come to help you through," the white cat meowed. Fair enough. I nodded, to show that I appreciated their gesture to me.

We walked along the rest of the way in silence, and suddenly we reached a dead end. They stopped, and I noticed the white cat moving back to block my way out. The tabby pounced on me and flattened me against the ground.

"What are you doing?" I gasped.

"Well, we heard you just escaped being a slave of Rock, and he offered a lot to bring you back, but we thought you'd be perfect for our desires, _worthless mating slave she-cat_," the reddish brown tabby hissed menacingly, a gleam in his eye, a claw at my throat.


	15. Chapter 15: Pretend To Die To Flee

**This chapter is so weird. XD But in a good way! ^.^; Never mind that she doesn't know - _shouldn't_ know - much about almost-dying and Dumpsters; she just does! XD Oh, right; and, enjoy! ^.^; **

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Unfair Labor Chapter 15

"W-What are you doing?" I stammered nervously. The claw on my throat seemed to be choking me, even though the tabby had placed the blunt end on my throat and was not pushing it down. I realized that was my terror.

_He could easily turn his claw around and hurt me, though,_ I thought. The thought rushed through my head again and again, and I wondered if I had been set up.

_Of course you have! _Stupid_!_ The shout came from somewhere in my head. _You shouldn't have listened to them!_

I sighed. I hadn't known; I had been stupid; I shouldn't have trusted them so easily. I had been gone for a few days already. Of _course_ Rock would have notified the other cats around his territory. Of _course_ they would have known. I only took the long way so that I wouldn't be spotted, but it had backfired on me, anyway. They had known which route I would take.

"Isn't it obvious?" he purred. "Rock asked us to give you back, and it was only kind of _obvious_ which cat you were, you know!" The purr seemed menacing, cruel, distorted. Now he leaned his face in closer to mine, and I shuddered at his bad breath. "We've decided to keep you, however."

The white cat got in even closer and hissed, "You shouldn't have run away, you pretty little kitty. Your time is up. Your life will be even worse now than it was!"

I trembled. _How will I ever get away?_ I wondered. _One bad cat after another seems to be chasing me!_

The red tabby flipped me over onto my paws. "Walk," he commanded. I did so, but I was somewhat weak after the scare, and he kept _kicking_ my rump to make me walk faster. It hurt!

"Oww!" was all I said after a particularly mean kick. I let out a few helpless mewls as he grabbed my tail in his teeth and pulled on it.

"Walk faster!" he finally commanded, and I was forced to go faster. I walked as fast as I could without running, which, admittedly, wasn't very fast, and for all my efforts I kept getting kicked. Finally, we reached the end of the private alleyway, after a few fancy twists and turns. By now it was dark out, and although there were none here, the harsh yellowish orange glow of the Twoleg streetlights illuminated the sky and created an aura of light that enveloped the whole city. It wasn't so hard to see.

"In here," the reddish tabby ordered. Once I was safely in the cage he indicated, they melted into the dark shadows of a small den-like place. It was just a hole in the ground, covered at the top by grass. It looked a little like a badger's den, actually.

I heard the reddish tabby chuckle. "What a good catch!"

"Yeah, I know, Smudge!" agreed the white one. "We're bound to get tons of prey for her!"

"Ah…." Smudge sighed. "Before long, we'll be living the good life!" He laughed; sounding like he was anticipating the day he'd finally get to live the good life, rich and free.

"Or, of course, we could keep her…." The white cat let out a low, menacing purr that send shivers of chills up and down my spine.

"That's a great idea, Ice!" Smudge giggled. Then, his voice turned serious again. "However…. My plan was to get her, sell her, live rich, find another slave the same caliber as her, and then dispose of all evidence that she was ever here. This way, even if they _do_ come looking for her, we won't have to take the fall! She'll probably be in BloodClan, where they can _all_ fight against Rock and his team." He giggled hysterically.

I shuddered, trembling hard now. _What if…. What if…. What if I die here?_ These thoughts ran through my head, and suddenly I wondered if I could play dead!

_It'll never work. They'll see right through you in a heartbeat. You kind of have to _breathe_, you know!_ the voice in my head was rather quick to remind me.

_Yeah, I know; I know,_ I thought back. _But…. But…. But…. What if I pretend to be _dying_? I only have to pretend until they throw my body in a Dumpster or something! Then I can just leave like nothing's ever happened to me!_

The voice in my head was excited now. I _had_ given it a good idea, it had to admit! _Well? Are you up for it? Do you think it will work?_

_Of course it will! It will; no worries,_ I purred in my head. Now…. What could I injure myself with?

_Aha!_ I saw the cage latch! I could pretend that I was desperately trying to get out, and then I could injure my neck and my head! I would have to make it look worse than it really was, though…. _Hmm._

I stuck my paw through the bars, and groped around there. I suddenly had a different idea, and stuck my head close to the bars. I maneuvered my paw to slice a gash in my head. I nearly let out a yowl, but kept silent.

_Great StarClan; that _hurt_!_ I thought. But there was no time for wallowing in my own pain or sorrow now. I had to keep moving!

I conveniently cut the side of my neck on the edge of the lock, and by then I couldn't take it anymore. I checked my fur in a small, greasy puddle next to the cage.

_Bloody. Good!_ I lied down and let out a wail of pain and terror. I suddenly heard Smudge and Ice rustling around in their den, and they bounded up to see me lying on the floor of the cage with blood pooled around me.

"Oh, dear!" Ice gasped, stopping.

"Don't just _stand_ there! Do something!" Smudge roared, bounding towards me. He ripped open the cage door and opened the door, dragging me out with a snarl. He scratched me. "This is punishment for hurting yourself!" he hissed.

I decided that it would be convenient now to start pretending to choke and die.

"I—" I let out a hacking sound. "Blood—in ma—_troat_—" I gasped.

"What is she saying?" Smudge asked Ice.

Ice listened. "Blood in her… throat? Oh, my! Dear me! This is _bad_! There's blood in her throat!" He shook Smudge, grabbing onto his shoulders with his paws and shaking them. "She's dying, Smudge; she's dying!"

So my plan had worked! Well, maybe this was just a little _too_ convenient. Was there a catch?

By now I was able, though, to slow my breathing down. I closed my eyes.

"Good… bye…," I murmured. Smudge let out a snarl as I kept slowing my breathing.

"She's dead!" he hissed.

"Or, well, she's dying," Ice interjected. "Come on. Let's put her in the Dumpster. She's of no use to us now." I closed my eyes and felt myself being carried. Eventually, I heard a creak and I felt myself being thrown over the edge of something. I closed my eyes as the door slammed, leaving me in darkness.


	16. Chapter 16: Escape Tonight

**I love this chapter. ^.^; Mostly since most of it is in Rose's POV, but whatever. XD Enjoy! ^.^; **

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Unfair Labor Chapter 16

_I…._ _Dumpster…. Ice…. Snake…. Talon…. Wait, what?_

I eventually came to, tossing and turning in some weird mushy stuff on the bottom of a dark box. I blinked, but there seemed to be no light. I began to panic, before my eyes got a tiny beam of light coming in from a loose space next to the hinges. Focusing on that, my eyes were pretty soon accustomed, and now I could see!

I surveyed my surroundings. I was in a Dumpster, in a pile of trash. Twoleg trash, no less. As I remembered the events of the night before, I slowly remembered what I had done.

Smudge and Ice, two toms who were employed by Rock to capture me and later transfer me back to Rock, had indeed done just that. The only problem was that they had no plans to send me back to Rock! I, not wanting to be with either Rock's gang nor Smudge and Ice, had pretended to be dying. I gingerly touched the wound I had inflicted on myself, and my neck automatically flinched my head away from my paw as the wound stung. I gazed at the small amount of blood now on my paw in horror. _Did it never stop bleeding? Or was this just dried blood?_ I wondered, looking around to see if there were any sources of liquid on the bottom of the Dumpster anywhere. Even puddles would do….

Upon further investigation, I realized that it had just been dried blood that I'd somehow wetted…. Wait. _Ew!_ The only stuff in here was what the Clans called "trash juice", weird liquidy stuff that comes out of Twoleg trash! I nearly gagged, but decided to stay silent. I would survey my surroundings and later try to come out of the Dumpster. Waiting longer is always better, right? At least that would ensure that Smudge and Ice were no longer near!

_But they're probably hiding from Rock, and ridding their little camp place of all evidence I was ever there,_ I thought smugly. _At least they'll be too busy to think about finding me again! After all, they think I'm dead!_

**ROSE'S POV**

I lay in the cage, stinging and bleeding from wounds and cuts all over my body that had varying degrees of severity. It had been two days since we'd last seen Pe—I mean, Bug. I was trying to stay away from Vixen's little mind reading thing! I knew that she would probably keep it trained on me to see if I knew anything about where the runaway slave had disappeared off to, so I had to keep my thoughts hidden at least until then.

I surveyed the wounds on my flank and all around me. There were countless scratches around my area, and it was smeared with the stuff that came out when you mated. This was no new occurrence to me, but I still hated thinking about it, all the same.

Suddenly, Lunar appeared at my cage door. "Hey. Rose," he hissed in a whisper. "Come out into the forest with me?"

"And why should I trust you?" I asked defensively. How did I know that Rock hadn't been tricking us all this time; that Lunar was really on the bad side?

"Just trust me, okay?" he asked, looking annoyed. "I have to tell you something. Come on." He unlocked the cage door and draped his tail over my shoulders. With the way it was placed, he guided me out, dropping the key under a rock next to Rock's den. I knew I wasn't supposed to see, and so did he, but he didn't try to stop me from looking.

_Does that mean anything?_ I wondered curiously. _Like, could he be plotting for me to escape?_

_Stupid,_ a voice in my head chided me. _If you're in the cage, how can you get out; how will you grab the key? It's impossible! No, Lunar must have something, well… _bigger_ in mind._

Then, suddenly, it hit me. _The escape plan must be still on! He must somehow know about it! He's giving me the location to the key, so that when that time comes, I can let out all the slaves! It must be a master key to all the cages!_ I suddenly realized.

Grinning, pleased with myself, at this new piece of information, I followed Lunar out of the thorn tunnel. I felt uneasy walking through it, and I kept my tail down. The long, straight tunnel that you could see all the way into the forest to from the camp—it must have been at least five fox-lengths long!—was probably in place so that Rock would be able to catch any escaping slaves quickly, seeing as how they would be burdened by the slippery rock underneath and thorns above, whereas he was an adult cat and could easily handle it. I wondered how a cat could be so cruel.

Once we were out in the forest, Lunar led me to the middle of the territory, where we climbed a large tree. I had some trouble, what with my kits coming, and all, but I decided that it didn't matter, and I followed him up, anyway.

"So," he murmured. "Do you promise that you will not tell _any_ cat what I am telling you right now?"

"Yes! I promise," I whispered fervently. "Now. What is it? I'm impatient."

Lunar grinned. "If jumping a little up and down and shaking the tree branch slightly is any indication of your _impatience_," he teased, emphasizing the word _impatience_. I felt my ears grow hot.

_What is he getting at?_ I wondered. All the same, I still answered, "Ha, ha. Very funny. Now, spill it before I start groveling or something."

"All right." He lowered his voice, looked around, and moved close to my ear before saying, "Well, they've hired two cats to catch Petalkit. A cat named Ice, a white cat, and a red tabby named Smudge. Now, I'm not too sure how they are… how they were… supposed to do it. I don't know if they already caught Petalkit; I didn't ask. But if they dead, she's as good as dead, and so are you." He stared me in the eyes. "You must escape. I'll find out more about them, and if Petalkit has already been caught, but they'll _all_ torture you if you don't get away! They know you let Petalkit escape. Rose…." Here, his voice grew… what was it? Soft and sad? "…You're in great danger."

"So." I blinked, not really comprehending this. Or maybe I did, and I was just confused, which seems to happen a lot these days. "You're saying that if I don't get away, if these two shady characters, Smudge and Ice, catch Petalkit and bring her back here, I'm dead meat? They'll torture both of us until we die?"

"Yes," Lunar replied. "Which means that we must find a way to escape. Tonight. I should ask where that slave kit that went with that Blood tom, or whoever he was, as that will seem innocent enough—well, for me, anyways. Thorn, Rock, and Vixen—which is all the rest of them—are going to meet these two Smudge and Ice characters, which gives us some time to escape and get to the lake, which is where we got these kits from. Well? Are you ready?"

"I'm ready for anything, Lunar," I replied. And it was true. I had been a slave for a few days, and I couldn't wait to get out of here.

"Good," Lunar replied. "Then be ready. Remember: Don't give anything away. Tonight, we go."


	17. Chapter 17: Escape Underway

**Sube, sube! Hasta la nube! Balante ante! Cleo mire patra~ **

** :O I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there! I'm just listening to one of my favourite songs while typing this... XD Shut It Down by Pitbull ft. Akon. ^.^; It's so awesome! 3 Haha, supposedly "Pitbull lives out his James Bond dreams" in this song as Armando Bond! XDD **

**Anyways! ^.^; In this chapter, and 18, things get kind of weird! :S Also, do you know what? I was just reading through this, and I had a whole other story going than what it is now! *slaps* Ah, well; whatever. The doings of the prophecy can be lived out in the sequel! XD This will have maybe 20 chapters, by the way! I'm looking forward to finishing it tomorrow! ^.^; **

**Also, you'll get an Allegiances list in Book 2: Unfair Labor No More! *dances* But I ain't giving away everything at the moment! XD Review, peoples; review! ^.^; I hope to see this get at least 100 reviews by the time I'm finished with it! XD  
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Unfair Labor Chapter 17

In my dream, I was being twisted around and around with my forepaws and hind paws in shackles. I was connected to a huge metal torture device, and I was slowly going up, up, up, where all black cats with scary red eyes whispered, "Slave…. Slave…. Slave…."

The device that was sending me up into the sky, up into a scary forest which I assumed was the Dark Forest, whirred and screeched as it sent me up….

I awoke with a start, gasping. Eyes wide, I tried to look around me, but the Dumpster was dark. As I listened, I was alerted to the presence of a horrible screeching sound. I also heard a whirring sound.

_So it wasn't just in my dream!_ I gulped. _What is it?_

Well, whatever it was, it was coming closer! I tried my hardest to push up the top of the Dumpster so that I could get out, but I was weak and short and it was only a bit too tall for me.

_How did Smudge and Ice _do_ it?_ I wondered. I blinked, still wondering about that a bit, and then realized: _Smudge and Ice were already pudgy, somewhat fat, and strong…. Not to mention tall. They'd have a much easier time than I ever could,_ I thought bitterly. _I'm just a former slave, so of course I'll be weak._

Meanwhile, the whirring sound was coming closer. I gulped. _What's happening?_ I let out a fearful mewl, and finally the whirring sound stopped coming closer, stopping right in front of what I assumed was this Dumpster. It was even louder now that it had stopped and was idling. I looked out the little crack upon finding it, and caught a flash of red.

_Blood? No, wait; that can't be it…. What is it?_ I wondered, curiously. I heard the yowls of some Twolegs, and I shuddered. _They're coming closer….!_

All of a sudden, I felt, well… weightless, sort of. What were they _doing_? All of a sudden, the Dumpster was turned over! The top flew open, and I fell down into blackness….

When I awoke, the Twoleg monster thing—I judged that it _must_ be a monster by its movement—was on the move! I was in blackness, obviously near the bottom. I had been protected by a bucket or something, and I had a little spot where none of the garbage could fall on me.

_Thank StarClan!_ I thought. _If any of the trash fell on me, I would be dead!_

I wondered if there was a way to get to the top, since I obviously was on the bottom of the thing right now. _What is this; like, is it a bigger version of the Dumpster?_ I wondered curiously. I knew from the vibrations of the floor beneath me that I was on the bottom. I slowly climbed out from under the little thing that had sheltered me and kept me from being totally crushed by the Twoleg trash, and, wrinkling my noise against the smell, stuck my paw into a gap and strained to push myself up.

I fell right back down again, and with it came some trash! I was nearly crushed by it, but I scrambled back under my shelter just in time.

_They have to stop sometime, right?_ I figured. _Then, maybe, if they dump out this trash, I can catch a ride on the back of their truck and still get even farther away!_

Not more than a little while later, I felt the Twoleg monster slowing down. I heard some beeping. Then, the little bucket-like thing I was in suddenly tipped over! I let out a yowl as I was dumped onto a pile of trash, and I watched as the bucket thing slowly moved back into place.

_I was right. It _is_ like a miniature Dumpster!_ I thought, both startled by its gigantism, and pleased by my right guess.

Suddenly, I realized that it was going to start moving soon, and then I would be stuck here! I looked around.

"This is like one of those Twoleg dumps my mother always told me about! Wait…," I suddenly realized. My eyes widened. "It _is_ a Twoleg dump!" I cried.

I wondered why I was talking to myself, but there was no time to worry, because Rose had also once told me that mean cats hid in these dumps! They also kept slaves, and I didn't want to end up as one of theirs!

I jumped onto the back of the monster, before realizing there was a place where Twolegs sat at the front. _They're not in there!_ I thought hopefully. I ran around to the door and leaped into the front, hiding behind the seat on the right.

The Twolegs got in soon enough, and then, with a roar, we were off again.

**ROSE'S POV**

Night was approaching, and Rock, Thorn, and Vixen were getting ready to leave. I sat in the cage, flexing my claws excitedly.

"I'll guard Rose and the other slaves, don't worry," Lunar was assuring Rock.

"Good," Rock rumbled, nodding. "Well, I hope to have a go at mating with her when I get back."

"Oh, you will. Don't worry!" Thorn assured him. Vixen only grinned.

"And I hope to torture her!" Vixen flexed her claws, while grinning and glaring her green eyes over in my direction.

"All that you can do. Now, go meet Smudge and Ice!" Lunar urged them.

"So, off we go!" With a yowl, Rock, Thorn, and Vixen thundered down the thorn tunnel. Lunar sat in the middle of the camp watching them until the moon had risen slightly higher in the sky.

Lunar turned towards me. "It'll take them at least a day to get there, and another day to come back," he murmured. "If Smudge and Ice have lost Bu—er, Petalkit, sorry—they certainly won't have been in a hurry to come back!" He grinned, sheepishly. "So, even if they _have_ lost Petalkit, they wouldn't have come running back through the territory to tell Rock, or anything!" He laughed. "Good thing I know that. Otherwise, we wouldn't have planned this for tonight!"

"How many kits do we have?" I asked. Lunar suddenly jerked, as if seeming to remember something, and headed for Rock's den, where he got the key to the cage from under the rock and released me from its small, well… _cagey_ confines.

I shook out my fur. "Thanks for that." I looked up at him. "So, do you know the exact number?"

"Umm… not exactly," he admitted, nodding embarrassedly. "But I do know an approximate number. Last time I checked, it was something like twenty-five."

"Well, let's go!" I hopped over to the slaves' den, and ducked inside. There's a thick hedge separating the slaves' den and the camp, and a narrow door. Once inside the little cave of brambles, I looked around. Moonlight was filtering through holes in the bramble roof, and I could see slaves either sleeping or pacing around. Some were chatting in low tones, and still others were doing something like fastidiously grooming. A small white she-cat with one amber eye and one blue eye looked over at me from the loner kit section, and she blinked.

"Hey, it's one of the slaves that Rock keeps in the camp!" she exclaimed, and instantly a whole bunch of other slaves looked over at me, too.

I let out a purr, although it was mostly forced. "No, I'm just a back-up hunting cat since the other slave escaped."

A small black she-cat with sleek fur and amber eyes looked over at me. "Oh, really?" she asked drily, her gaze penetrating me and viewing the scratches on my fur, and I could tell that she didn't believe me.

I sighed. "Okay, fine; Rock decided to torture me a little bit. _But_," I emphasized as Lunar came into the den behind me, holding a few metal rings of keys, "Tonight, you are all going to escape!" I let out a purr; and this time, it wasn't forced. "Lunar is on _our_ side, you see, and he wants to help me take you all back to the Clans!" I looked up suddenly, thinking that I was seeing the full moon.

"Hey, wait…." I paused, one paw in the air.

"….Isn't tonight the Gathering?" asked Lunar, finishing the question for me.

"Wait…!" An older kit looked up at the moon, her eyes shining. "It's the Gathering tomorrow night! I can't wait to get back," she explained.

"Lunar, unlock the cages," I ordered him. "Everybody, converge in a group! There is an exit at either side of the den, and we will go out the left side of the den, through that little forest, and then out over the moorland!"

A young brown tabby kit waved her white tail. "What if they come back early, and catch us on the moors?" she asked, uncertainly.

"Good question!" Lunar congratulated her. "But, no; they shouldn't come back, and if they do, we'll most likely be gone over the hills by the time they can find us! We'll have to ask you all to roll in garlic or wet ferns or something, though," he added seriously. "There's some in a puddle outside." He pointed with his tail.

"Right." I nodded, watching as he started unlocking cages. He unlocked them starting on the right. His reasoning was, "If they come back early, and try to catch us, at least the guys farthest from the exit will be out of the way!" I nodded, purring.  
"That makes sense," I admitted.

I waited just outside the entrance as, slowly, kits began to emerge from the cages. By the time Lunar was done, I counted eleven RiverClan cats, eleven WindClan, twelve ShadowClan, and ten ThunderClan. I also counted six loner kits.

"Yeah, _twenty_," I teased him. "That's…." I quickly counted on my paws. "Forty-four kits!"

He flicked his tail, pretending to be irritable. "Ha, ha. Very funny. Now, let's go! I think at least half an hour has passed." I blinked. That long?"

"Half an hour…?" one of the kits ventured, slowly. She looked confused.  
"We don't count the same way as you do," I quickly supplied. She nodded. "Now, let's go!"

Lunar led the kits to the ferns by the puddle and the stream, where pretty soon the ground was a writhing sea of muddy bodies, rolling themselves in the scent-covering mud.

Lunar gestured to the mud puddle with his head once everybody was across the slippery stepping stones of the stream. It couldn't actually be called a stream; it was really a wide, shallow river! "Shall we?" he asked, getting down and rolling himself in the mud. I followed suit, vowing not to clean my fur for a _long_ time after this.

I went across the river first, Lunar following more slowly to slick mud and water onto the rocks. "So that if they try to follow us, they won't be able to," he explained.

_How is he so _smart_?_ I wondered, albeit enviously.

"Let's go!" Lunar whispered, and then we started running. Some of the kits were shaky, but pretty soon were able to run. We just had to adjust our pace a little, but otherwise, we were fine, and fairly fast.

"Maybe I was wrong," Lunar whispered about half an hour into the run. Upon hearing what sounded like a faint yowl, he looked back. I looked back, too, and we both slowed down. The kits ahead of us kept running, however.

"Where do you think you're going?" came the faint, angry yowl of Rock. All I saw was a speck in the distance, but the wind, carrying towards us for the moment, brought the sound. If the wind hadn't been coming at us, we wouldn't have been able to hear it at all.

"We need to hurry!" I gasped, my eyes wide, starting to run again. In the few moments we'd been stopped, all the kits had kept on running, and now they were over the other hill. We raced to the top, seeing them on the other hill not too far off in the distance.

"Phew!" Lunar sighed. "Well, they're safe. And Petalkit must be, too, if they're back here again!"

The kits were out of our sight again, so we kept running. "It'll take them quite a while to catch up to us," panted Lunar, flicking my ear with his tail tip. "Don't worry! After this, the moorland slopes down quite a bit, so we should be able to get out of their sight for long enough to be able to swerve into the forest and take just a _slight_ detour through Twolegplace. Eh? What do you think?" His eyes twinkled.

"Sounds like a great idea," I panted. "Now, hurry!" We both sped up, and it didn't take too long before we caught up to the kits.

"Run faster, if you can!" panted Lunar, picking up an especially small one who was having trouble. I scanned the crowd. Other than that one little kit, everybody else seemed to be fine, and nobody else seemed to be having a hard time, so….

I kept running. Everything had just changed. Now, our lives depended on our speed!


	18. Chapter 18: Find The Clans

**Still listening to Shut It Down - for the second time this evening! ;D I uploaded both of these chapters at once, so... ^.^; Do you know how hard it is to sing the lyrics to one song while typing something else? XD **

**This one is kind of weird! ^.^; Because, well, at first... I wanted to make it with the four original Clans and leaders, starting with the allegiances for Eclipse! But, then, I realized that that wouldn't work! DD: So, I had to change _everything_! D: I spent about an hour with severe Warriors Name Block trying to come up with a whole Allegiances list, too! DDx Oh, it was hell.**

** ... I also just realized that when the Twolegs talk, I called it Elm Street! XD Which, of course, makes me think of Nightmare on Elm Street (not that I've ever watched it! Jeeze, I can't even handle a guy's head blowing up in James Bond; how could I handle that? XD I'm such a wimp, in movies, but I can write and read horrible things! ^.^;), but, yeah; enjoy the chapter! As usual, I bet you will! XD  
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Unfair Labor Chapter 18

I clung as hard as I could to the floor of the Twoleg monster, digging my claws into the soft grass-like material that made up the floor of the monster. I tried to listen to the Twolegs, as I understood some of their language from what my mother had taught me back in WindClan, and I hoped that it would help me know some of these words.

"Where are we going to pick up next?" one of the Twolegs asked. I didn't understand all of it, but I knew the one with the green hat was asking a question. All I could understand was, "Where… we… pick up?"

"By Elm Street, maybe," another replied. This was no good! "Elm, maybe," the one with the yellow hat said.

Suddenly, with a flash of realization, I understood. They were picking up more Twoleg trash! This "Elm" they were talking about was a place!

_Is it near to the Clans, do you think?_ I heard the voice in my head wondering.

_Well, we'll soon find out!_ I replied triumphantly, pleased that I could at least understand that much. I turned my ears back in the direction of the Twolegs.

"Yes, that's always a busy place," the green-hatted one agreed. "Then afterward, we can go to the lake! The camping site near the old quarry hollow thing should have some garbage, and so should the farm with the horse stables that was recently made into a hotel."

I understood, "Yes, always busy. Afterward, go to lake! Camping site near hollow should have garbage, so should farm with stables recently made."

I was pleased that I could understand that much, and suddenly, I knew! _Lake? Camping site near the hollow? There's a Twoleg camping site near ThunderClan!_ I thought, my eyes widening. _And the horseplace! The stables! Oh, I'm going home!_ I was brimming with excitement, so I sat back to enjoy the rest of the ride. I would need time to rest before I got back home!

**ROSE'S POV**

"How… where… are they?" I panted. I was carrying three young kits on my back, and one in my mouth. Lunar was carrying four on his back, and one in his mouth. Our progress had slowed considerably, and all the kits were getting tired.

"They… left us a while back," Lunar gasped out. "They… we… they aren't as fit as… we are. They… shouldn't have… always had slaves. But that's a… good thing… since… they can't catch us now." His voice was getting considerably more strained.

"Shall we… stop soon?" I suggested. "I mean… if they've left us… we're got to be at least a day's journey… ahead of them! I… I don't know, but…. Could we be near the Clans, do you think?"

"Possibly," Lunar agreed.

We had taken the detour through the forest, and we had taken the hardest one to navigate… for adult cats. For kits, it was just wonderful! We had gotten through quickly, and we had already been running for around forty-five minutes before they'd finally gotten out of the forest.

I'd noticed that when they caught us running away from the camp the night before, Rock, Smudge, Ice, Vixen, and Thorn had all been running after us, chasing us, and when we exited the forest, only Vixen, Thorn, and Smudge—the smaller cats—were going after us. Later on, when we had swerved through a marshy area, Thorn had vanished, so now only Vixen and Smudge were chasing us. However, they had disappeared during the night, whereas we were still running under the full moon.

We had run all the night before, all today, and now we were still thundering onward. Lunar brought it down to our extra strengths, as all of us except Lunar had once been slaves, and you needed excellent stamina to be a slave!

Lunar, before he'd found Rock's group, had been a wanderer who went hungry a lot and who was constantly running from city cats, who wanted his hide for some reason or another. He told me that he used to investigate when cats got killed or something like that. He always wanted to see the killers get in trouble for their bad deeds!

"Vixen and Smudge must have… wonderful stamina!" I gasped out. I let out a strained laugh. "But they can't catch us now!"

All of a sudden, ahead of us, I heard gasps. The older kits—the oldest ones being eleven months—had stopped at the top of a hill, gasping. I fought my way to the front and dropped the kit in my mouth when I reached the crest of the rise.

"W-Wow!" I murmured with my eyes wide. "Great StarClan!" Then, I quickly shook my head. "Bah…. I mean…." _If you want to become a Clan cat, you should probably believe in StarClan,_ the voice in my head suddenly reminded me. I grinned sheepishly, noticing some kits staring at me as if to say, _I thought she _did_ believe in StarClan?_ "Yeah, great StarClan," I murmured, grinning.

A white eleven-moon-old kit with brown tabby patches and blue eyes stared down at the lake. I followed her gaze, seeing the full moon shine reflecting off of the water, and then I could see onto… _The Island! That's the Gathering Island that Petalkit told me so much about!_ I gasped.

Cats milled about on the island, some seeming to be fishing, and yet others were fooling about together. I spotted a black and a white cat entwining their tails together, walking from the shadows. Even from far, far away, I could still see the black cat's blue eyes reflecting with the moon's light. They shone right back up into my eyes, although nobody had noticed us yet.

"Should we go down there?" I asked Lunar quietly.

"Why don't we stay here for a little while first?" he suggested. When I just looked at him blankly, he quickly supplied, "Well, err; shouldn't we kind of get our little ragtag group together?" I looked at him, and then around me. He was right.

"Good idea." I nodded. "Okay! So, how about we hang around here for a little bit, and once we've got all our groups sorted out, hopefully get back there before the Gathering ends?"

"Excellent!" Lunar nodded, looking pleased. He knew quite a lot about the Clans, he had told me, from his investigative days. He had once told me of a case where they used to live in their old home, and a ShadowClan cat had gone around, killing cats brutally! He had killed the perpetrator, saving the Clans in the process.

"Kits, gather around!" I called. A jumble of pelts surrounded me. _Thirty cats…._ I shook my head to clear it. "Right! So, gather into your respective Clans! WindClan, over there; RiverClan, there; ThunderClan, right here; and ShadowClan, as far away from me as you can possibly get. No, only kidding, of course." I laughed when I saw a few ShadowClan kits glaring at me. "But do gather over there, please!" I added quickly.

"Which group shall we join?" I asked quietly to Lunar.

"None, for now," he decided briskly. "Why not we wait until Petalkit gets back? We'll join her Clan with her then."

"Okay," I agreed, although only somewhat reluctantly. "Loners and all other non-Clan cats, gather around me, please!" Once everybody was gathered, at Lunar's word, we set off down the slope.

Lunar and I ran at the back of the group to ensure that nobody straggled or got lost. We ran for a few minutes before we passed WindClan's camp, although we skirted so far around the little dip that I don't think anybody saw us. Soon, we were running down towards the lake.

I watched the sea of small pelts dashing down the slope in front of me, and I watched to see if the Clan cats noticed. Lunar followed my gaze, and let out a yowl.

"Hello!" he called, waving his long tail frantically. The couple I had seen earlier, still sitting on a low rock at the edge of the water with their tails intertwined, looked up at me in some confusion. The tom's blue eyes flashed.

"Look! It's the missing kits!" he called, prompting many other cats to also rush to the side of the island we were approaching. I gulped, watching pair after pair of blue, green, or amber eyes staring out of the bushes at me. Cats crowded in the trees and on the rocks, and suddenly I saw four cats leaping across the tree bridge and landing on the ground.

There was a white tom with a gray tail, a bright ginger tomcat, a dark brown tabby tomcat, and a silver she-cat. They sat in a row, pelts barely touching, staring at us curiously. The oldest kits skidded to a stop in front of the cats.

"Streamstar!" the white she-cat with brown tabby patches and blue eyes purred. The leader's eyes lit up.

"Chervilpaw, my dear," she whispered.

I watched as a small ginger she-cat bounced up to the ginger tom. "Flamestar! It's me, Beekit!"

Flamestar gasped. "Patchfur's kits!" A brown tabby and a black tom bounced up beside her. Flamestar's eyes widened. "It's you! It's all of you! Your mother was devastated when you left!"

"It wasn't exactly of their own accord, but that's another story," Lunar replied, coming up behind the kits and flicking his tail.

Suddenly, Flamestar's eyes scanned the kits. "Where's Brightkit?" he asked, looking confused. He sniffed the air.

Lunar lowered his eyes. "I… I'm sorry, but, you see, the cats we came from took these kits for their slave agency, and Brightkit was taken…. Oh!" His head snapped up, and he stared at me. "Rose! Wasn't Blood supposed to come back with Brightkit—?"

"This afternoon," I confirmed darkly. "They'll probably all band together now and take Brightkit as their slave!"

Flamestar sighed. "The only kit you couldn't manage to save…."

"I'm sorry." Lunar bowed his head. Then, his eyes brightened. "But, once we get all your kits settled in, and Rose and I join the Clans, as we are planning to, then we can go and get her back!"

Flamestar sighed. "I guess."

Lunar turned away to look for the WindClan leader and make sure that all his Clan's kits were back and safe. I watched from a distance as Lunar tapped him on the shoulder, and the WindClan leader whirled around.

The white leader's eyes darkened. "You!" He glowered at Lunar. "Your scent was in the nursery the night the kits were stolen!"

"Sorry; sorry," Lunar apologized. "But I can explain it all."

"It wasn't _his_ fault." I backed him up, entwining my tail with his. "We used to be with a group of evil cats who were stealing the kits. Lunar used to be one of them, but he helped us escape tonight!" I let out a purr.

The brown tabby leader came up behind the white leader. "Never mind," he growled. "You can tell the cats at the Gathering, but first you can tell us!"

Lunar took a deep breath, and began. "Well, there used to be just Rock…."

**PETALKIT'S POV**

I had been listening while they drove. It was evening when we set off from the first Twoleg dump, but now it was dark, and the full moon shone into the cab. I had learned that this Twoleg monster was called a truck, and the front of it was called a cab. I was sitting in the back, and the seat on the front left of the truck was called a driver's seat. The seat on the front right was a passenger's seat. I sat squished between the door and the passenger's seat, watching. We had passed this Elm place, and I was, admittedly, disappointed to learn that it was not the Clans' home. However, we were now nearing the other destination!

"We might as well stop at the docks and the ticket booth first," one Twoleg said. I understood, "Stop at docks and booth first." A few moments later, the truck came to a slow halt.

The Twolegs hopped out, keeping their doors open. I squeezed out from the backseat, and leaped out after them when they were at the back of the truck and not looking at me. I quickly scuttled into the bushes at the side of the Thunderpath, and crept to the edge of the grass from there. There was a little field full of Twoleg tents, but I knew this wasn't ThunderClan _or_ ShadowClan territory. Instead I smelled…. _RiverClan!_ I stiffened, and my eyes widened. I dashed through the little field, stopping at the edge of the rocks that made up the beach. I got onto the beach and surveyed the land around me.

The first thing I saw was RiverClan territory on my right, and ShadowClan territory on my left. I looked out onto the lake, and saw the Gathering Island. There were cats on the Island!

_Oh, right! It's a full moon today; a Gathering!_ I suddenly remembered.

However, next to the tree bridge….

_Cats! Lots of them!_ I gasped. I retreated to the edge of the bushes and raced along the edge of the beach towards the Gathering Island. At one point, I stepped into a deep pool of mud, and I hissed, shaking my right forepaw to get the mud off of it. It didn't come off completely, but once I was satisfied, I started running again.

As I got closer, I recognized the four leaders: Streamstar, Flamestar, Needlestar, and…. _Lightstar!_ I gasped. I couldn't wait to see my Clan again! The thought just made me run harder, and soon I emerged from the bushes and ran the rest of the way along the beach, nearly crashing into Lightstar.

"Watch where you're—" he began in a hiss, turning slowly around to see who had crashed into him. Then, his eyes widened in delight. "Petalkit! You're back! I heard what happened to you from Lunar and Rose! But…." He looked confused. "Why weren't you with them?"

I looked at the other leaders. Flamestar was watching me intently, Streamstar was talking to one of the escaped slaves I knew as Chervilpaw, and Needlestar was eyeing Lunar warily as he told his story, with Rose adding in bits and pieces that Lunar obviously forgot.

"Oh, it's a long story," I assured him. "In fact, I'll tell it to you right now…."


	19. Chapter 19: Back At Last

**Well, here's Chapter 19! ;D It's long! ^.^; It just 5 pages and a bit long! :3 Like, that's over 3,000 words! ^.^; *checks* 3,028! :3 **

**Enjoy this chapter! :3 It's the last chapter before the epilogue, where they basically recount what happened in Rock's group from the time that Lunar and Rose escaped with all the kits, to the present time. ^.^; I bet you can't wait for that one! **

** ... Unfortunately, I ain't finished it yet! XD It'll probably get done sometime by tomorrow! ^.^;  
**

* * *

Unfair Labor Chapter 19

Once all the stories had been told and everything had been sorted out, the leaders were ready to welcome us all back into the Clans. They jumped onto the tree that leaders sat on during Gatherings.

"Cats of all Clans," Lightstar, the WindClan leader—my heart skipped a beat. My leader!—addressed everybody calmly. "We finally have our kits back. Petalkit was the first one to be stolen, so I'd like to give her a special welcome!" He raised his tail, and the cries went up.

"Petalkit! Petalkit!" cheered the cats. The tips of my ears grew hot.

"The kits will settle into their respective Clans, but borders still stand!" Needlestar, the ShadowClan leader, warned, stepping up to the front. "Whatever friends you may have had from other Clans don't matter now." He stepped back, melting into the shadows of the great oak tree. "And that's all I have to say." The voice that came sounded eerie; almost ghostlike.

"I'm sure they understand, Needlestar." Lightstar flicked his tail.

"These are the Clans, after all!" Streamstar's voice came from the fork in the middle of the tree, where it split into two main branches.

"You don't have to worry," Flamestar assured him.

The way that all the leaders quickly reassured Needlestar made me think that there was something _really_ wrong with ShadowClan! What, were they _all_ that suspicious? I wondered.

"In any case, all the kits will now disperse and settle into their respective Clans!" Lightstar announced. "However, we have two adults and six loner kits that we need to decide the fates of. Do they want to stay or will they go?"

Lunar stepped up, flicking his highly held tail. "Rose and I wish to stay!" he called. "We will join WindClan, if that's all right with you."  
"Any particular reason that you want to join WindClan?" Needlestar was eyeing Lunar with suspicion and perhaps a bit of envy in his eyes. Lunar was a strong, big cat, and was surely going to be an asset in battles.

_Is that all ShadowClan cares about?_ I wondered, once again. But I didn't have time to wonder anymore, because Lunar was speaking again. I pricked my ears.

"Well, we know Petalkit the best out of all these cats, you see," Rose explained, coming up beside Lunar. Her voice was soft, and it was hard to hear.

Naturally, cries of, "What was that?" and "Speak up!" were called by many cats.

"Come up here," Lightstar invited Rose and Lunar. "That way, you can speak easier."

Lunar nodded. "Come on," he said quietly to Rose, and they both jumped up onto Lightstar's branch together.

"Now, the reason we are joining WindClan is because I know Petalkit the best," announced Rose. "However, Lunar is my mate, and we don't want to be separated!"

Needlestar nodded. "Ah," was all he said. He looked somewhat envious, still, though.

"And now, it's time to report the rest of the Clan news!" Flamestar announced. "ThunderClan's prey is running well. We will not give any of our territory up to any other Clans, though, however large your Clan may be, and however much you may be starving!" He cast a glare towards Needlestar, who simply looked away like nothing was wrong.

I bristled. _The nerve of that cat!_ Before I had been taken at around five moons old—that reminded me! I was eight moons old now—I had listened to some stories of the Gathering, and I had picked up two facts about ShadowClan: One, they were suspicious and cold. Two, they just wanted your territory and your prey!

Needlestar stepped up to the front of the rock. "Now with our next generation of kits back home, it might be necessary to gain some extra hunting territory," he mewed smoothly, not looking at Flamestar, but at the audience of cats below. He had worded it in such a way that it could not offend, but at the same implied that there was a hidden meaning… they were going to raid our territory for our prey!

I saw Flamestar's eyes flash with uncertainty, but when he blinked a moment later, the fleeting emotion was gone. In its place was hardened certainty.

"Never," he mouthed. But I don't think Needlestar saw.

I listened to what Lightstar had to say. "Prey is running well in WindClan territory, and now with our youngest and fastest cats back in the Clan, we shall do even better!" he meowed enthusiastically. His eyes were bright with excitement and happiness. "Other than that, Darkflower, Grassstripe, and Firestorm chased out a dog the other day, and a fox yesterday."

The Clan cats down below murmured; some even cheered. I heard a cat beside me whisper to his mate, "Good! Now they'll stop bothering us!" It was obviously more of a problem than Lightstar had realized.

I turned back to the leaders, and now Streamstar was speaking. "The fish are swimming well, and RiverClan is healthy," she announced. "Other than that, however, I have nothing else to report." She stepped back into the shadows of the great oak tree, and cats started murmuring as the Gathering broke up. Cats melted out of the shadows from every direction, and I shivered at the sight. I was just glad I'd stayed in the moonlight! I looked up at the full moon.

_So comforting…,_ I thought. I sighed. Tonight was the night that I'd escaped!

_Yes!_ I thought happily.

"Come on, kits!" called Lightstar from the entrance to the clearing. I dashed over to him, sticking close to Lunar and Rose as we headed out. I didn't slip crossing the Tree Bridge—thank StarClan!—and landed safely on the other side, although I did churn up quite a bit of dust that made me sneeze.

"You okay?" Rose asked, looking at me concernedly.

"What?" I asked, my voice making me sound like I had a small cold because of all the dust and grit still in my nose. "I'm fine." I sneezed. "See? All better."

Lunar purred. "Good." He called up to Lightstar, "Come on! We're all ready back here! Let's go!" He shuffled his paws anxiously.

"And we're off!" Lightstar called. We started running. The smallest kits were in the jaws of older cats, being held by their scruffs, so that they could run! We ran back to the camp.

When we finally crested the rise at the top of the hill, I gasped, almost staggering back. _It's beautiful!_ I thought, breathlessly looking at all the glory of the dip that made my Clan's home…. Gorse bushes and long grasses made up the dens, and some cats were sitting in the shade of the rocks at one side of the clearing.

One of them looked up. "Hey, look! The Gathering cats are back!" he called. We ran down into the hollow, filing one by one through the entrance, and the cat that had announced our arrival suddenly gasped.

"The…. The missing kits!" he stammered. "Where did you get them? I-I mean—where did they come from?" His pale brown tabby fur bristling with excitement, he ran into the tunnel that led down into the hole that I recognized as the nursery. "Windypool! Windypool! You won't believe it! Our kits are back; they're back!"

The white, silver-flecked she-cat ran out of the nursery looking like her paws flew on the air. They barely even touched the ground! Other queens dashed after her, and other cats swarmed out of the dens like flies onto a piece of crowfood.

All of a sudden, out of the warriors' den came bounding… my mother! Flowernose leapt across the ground and practically crashed into me, almost knocking me over. Her black tail was held up high and she was purring so hard she could barely speak.

"Petalkit!" she called.

"Mother!" I mewled, feeling like a kit once again as I rubbed myself against her side, not even caring that it looked weird. "I missed you…."

She licked the top of my head. "Me, too! I mean—" she corrected herself, sounding embarrassed, "—I missed you, too, Petalkit." I looked up at her once she paused, and saw her sniffing my sides and twitching her nose. "What's that dreadful smell on your fur, Petalkit?"

"Uhh…." I blinked. "It's… Twoleg trash? And it's… yeah."

"What happened to you?" my mother asked, incredulous.

I yawned. "Can I please tell you later? I'm tired right now." I was surprised to find that I was actually tired.

"Yes," Lightstar agreed, coming up behind us and laying his tail on my mother's shoulder. "Let's get Petalkit some rest; now, shall we? And I'll tell you the whole story."

"Okay." Flowernose nodded, but she didn't look too happy! Lightstar led her along the crowd of purring queens and other cats, and I watched them go.

That is, until I felt a tail on my shoulder! _Wha—_ I jumped. "Hey!" I meowed angrily, to the cat behind me. "What are you—oh, it's you!" My eyes widened, and I gasped. "Father!"

For, standing behind me, was Snowstorm! His long coat shone in the reflecting moonlight, and his blue eyes were lit up with happiness… and… was that… curiosity? I blinked in confusion at what was held there in the deep, pool-blue depths.

"Petalkit," he murmured, reaching out and sniffing my shoulder, then nodding approvingly. "You're back."

He swept his long, fluffy tail aside to reveal…. "Cloudykit and Birchkit!" I mewed happily.

"Cloudy_paw_, now," the white she-cat boasted, her eyes lit up with happiness—at seeing me.

"And Birch_paw_!" bragged the brown-splotched tom, his eyes lit up with triumph.

I purred. "Congratulations, you guys!"

"Want to come to the apprentices' den? You're seven moons old by now! I'm sure you'll be made an apprentice tomorrow!" Birchpaw exclaimed, resting his sleek tail on my shoulder and leading me away.

Cloudypaw rolled her eyes at me from Birchpaw's other side, and I had to stifle a purr of laughter. That was Birchpaw, babbling again! He always did that.

They both led me to the apprentices' den, where they showed me a patch of moss between them. They both looked proud as StarClan's warriors themselves, and I sat down in the moss.

"You made this? For me?" I asked, both appalled and pleased.

"Well…." Birchpaw looked embarrassed. "I had the idea…. I thought that one day you might come back, especially since your scent was in the nursery one day…. Just a hint, and covered up by something, but we thought that you might be alive, you know?"

"We scented other cats with you, and when we tried to find the scent trail, we scented blood—your blood." Cloudypaw looked at me seriously. "We figured something must be up, but…." She suddenly broke into a purr, nuzzling my cheek. "I'm just so glad that you're back, and _safe_!"

"What happened, anyways?" Birchpaw added. "I don't think you explained it to us."

"Well." I sighed. "How about I just tell you exactly what happened to me with those other cats you scented with me, okay? They took me, and tortured me if I didn't hunt for them perfectly well. Wait! Scratch that." I held up my tail, gesturing wildly with it all the while. "They would torture me anyways, no matter exactly _what_ I did."

Cloudypaw gasped in horror, while Birchpaw started babbling again, his way of telling us that he was nervous or excited. "But! Couldn't you just have escaped? But… but… this is _absurd_! It's absolutely _absurd_! They can't just _torture_ you like that! It's against Clan law!"

"Birchpaw." Cloudypaw was calm. "These were _rogues_, remember? Goodness-to-honest _rogues_. They wouldn't care about any Clan's laws, whether they lived near them or not!"

"Hmm…." Birchpaw pondered over this for a moment. "Well, I guess you're right… unfortunately, though," he added.

"Anyways." I yawned, not wanting to discuss this subject any longer. "I don't want to talk anymore, okay? I…." I yawned again, and curled up into a tight little ball in my nest. "….I'm going to sleep now, okay?"  
"Okay, sister," whispered Cloudypaw, licking my back in soft strokes until I fell asleep.

"Petalkit! Petalkit! Wake up! Wake up!" cried Cloudypaw and Birchpaw in unison.

I lifted up my head from where it was resting on its paws. The rest of my body, however, stayed in its curled-up position. "Uhh, what….?"

"The apprentice ceremony! It's _soon_!" declared Birchpaw.  
"Great. I need to groom myself," I muttered. "Will you leave me alone?" I asked, looking back up at my siblings. I had never been a morning riser, and now that I was back with the Clans, I guess it was coming back full-force.

_My brain is messed up…,_ I thought, watching my siblings leave the den together. The grasses in front of the entrance popped back up to cover it; I decided to stop being so lazy, and I got up, stretching.

I noted that everybody was gone as I arched my back and stretched my legs in a long, fulfilling stretch. Once I was done, I plopped back down in my moss again, giving myself a few moments of rest for my tired legs before getting to work with grooming myself.

_Time was never something you had while you were with Rock's group,_ the voice in my head mentioned.

I was already grooming my left shoulder. "I know," I said out loud, pausing between licks. "It's nice to be back, eh?"

_Definitely,_ it agreed, before falling silent again.

I let out a little laugh, and continued licking my shoulder, moving onto the right one when I was done. I enjoyed the darkness of the den, and the relative quiet—the grasses in front of the entrance and all around me seemed to muffle any communication to the outside world. I was glad. I didn't want to talk to anybody right now, anyways.

A little while later, Cloudypaw and Birchpaw bounced in, pushing aside the grasses at the entrance to the apprentices' den noisily as they did so. I was sitting, in a crouching position, my eyes closed.

I opened my eyes and shook my head, annoyed, as light flooded in.

"Come on, slowpoke!" Birchpaw poked me, causing me to let out an angry hiss. "Oh, sorry; I was told by Rose last night that you don't like being touched anymore."

I looked down at the ground, and then back up at them when I was sure I could control my emotions. I nodded. "Yep, that's right."

Birchpaw took his paw away. "Well, sorry. But, anyways! Your apprentice ceremony is right now! Can you believe it? Aren't you excited that you are _finally_ going to be a warrior…. Oops! I mean, apprentice? You're really going to be an apprentice! I wonder who your mentor will be? Ooh! I bet—"

Cloudypaw eyed Birchpaw as he started babbling again, firing off questions and listing them in such a way that I wouldn't have been able to even get a word in edgewise, let alone answer the questions in a fully detailed way that showed just how I felt about this whole thing.

As Cloudypaw turned away from Birchpaw and stepped out the entrance, motioning for me to follow, I felt as though I was floating on air.

_Finally! I'm finally going to be an apprentice! I'm finally back with my Clan!_ These thoughts and many more ran through my head as cats turned to stare at me when the den entrance grasses rustled. I glanced overhead.

_Sunhigh._ Obviously, I had been asleep for quite a while! Cloudypaw and Birchpaw had woken me up at dawn, but I had gone right back to sleep….

_Will I always have to wake up at dawn now?_ I wondered. _Oh, well; it wasn't really much different at Rock's place…. I'll deal…._

I followed my siblings to the edge of the circle, and then went on without them to the center of the circle, underneath the Tallrock. I glanced up at the rock. The sun was shining somewhere behind it, making the rock black and shadowy. The sky was clear and a pretty sky-blue colour.

I walked into the middle of the circle, nervously meeting Lightstar in the middle of it. He let out a purr. "Well? Are you ready?"

"To become an apprentice?" I looked down, scuffing the ground with my foot. Then, with new determination in my eyes—I had made sure of it—I looked back up, saying fiercely, "Of course! Of course I'm ready! I've waited too long!"

Then, I couldn't help it. I bounced up in the air like a kit. A lot of the other cats in the Clan purred, and I felt my ears grow hot, embarrassed.

"All right, then." Lightstar nodded. "Yes, I also believe that you are ready." He glanced up at the sky, back down at me, amusement lighting in his eyes, and then back up at the sky again, staring steadily up towards the cloudless blue sky. He took a deep breath.

"This is a proud day for WindClan," he began slowly. "Yesterday night, we got numerous kits and apprentices of ours back, and, today, we are ready to make certain kits, who were long overdue to become such, into apprentices!"

A cheer went up. "WindClan! WindClan!"

"By naming apprentices, we show that our Clan is strong and can survive any hardships!" Lightstar yowled. He looked down into my eyes. "Petalkit, from this day, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Petalpaw." I stared back steadily.

Lightstar's eyes closed briefly in a blink, then he opened them again as he said, looking searchingly into my eyes, "Petalpaw, I will be your mentor."

Gasps of shock and murmurs of approval rose from the Clan. "I hope to train you as one of WindClan's best warriors!" he yowled, throwing his head up to the sky.

Cheers rained down upon me. "Petalpaw! Petalpaw!" the cats shouted. I glanced around. I felt so happy…. I felt so accomplished.

_Go, WindClan!_ I screamed in my head, looking up to the sky. _I can't believe I'm finally an apprentice!_


	20. Chapter 20: Rock's Plans And His Outlook

**CHAPTER 20!**

**YAYS! :D **

**I honestly never thought I would get this far. ^.^; Thank you; thank you; thank you SO much, you guys! :3 **

**Your support has helped me make it through this story, and let it become what it is! ^.^; **

**I'm so proud of myself for finally finishing a story! :3 **

**Yaaaaays! :3 *cheers, and fireworks pop out of the ground around me***

**_Petalpaw:_ You got lucky, this time! Any smaller number of reviews, or any less peer support, and Amberleaf might not have finished it at all!**

**Hush, Petalpaw! XD **

**Anyways! ^.^; This chapter basically touches on what the Rock Group/Agency characters were up to while Petalkit managed to escape (by the way, I've gotten some complaints about how she could understand Twolegs; she has a small power like that, 'kay? Hope that cleared things up! :3), and then become Petalpaw. It's kind of upsetting, almost, in a way, to think that Petalpaw's not going to get her happy ending just yet, but would there really be a great story here without a chance for a sequel? I think not! ^.^; **

**Anyways, it also provides some background on the characters! :3 Stay tuned for Unfair Kidnappings, coming soon to a Warriors Fandom near you! :3 **

**ENJOY! :DDDDD  
**

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Chapter 20

"Ow!" The cry of pain came from somewhere within the bramble walls of the circular clearing.

"Take that, slave! Die!" hissed the voice of a pretty black she-cat. Her fur was sleek and shiny, unlike that of the young she-kit under her claws.

Oh, how the she-kit wished she could. She wanted to die. However, these cats were smart—they hurt her and starved her just enough to cause her the utmost of pain, but she couldn't just _die_ like that—and they made damn sure she didn't.

The young she-kit's name had been Brightkit, but now it was Dung. These cats had taken her as a slave.

* * *

Smudge and Ice had come back to the camp with Rock, Thorn, and Vixen early, only to find all their slaves, Rose, and Lunar—one of their warriors—were missing! They had run out onto the hillside on one side of the camp's walls, only to see cats thundering across the moorland grass, far away!

"Where do you think _you're_ going?" one of the cats, a large gray tomcat who was also the leader, roared after them. The white cat at the back of their little group—Lunar! The traitor!—looked at the brown tabby she-cat running beside him, then turned, his gaze lighting up in surprise. He turned back to the front and yowled something, but since the wind was carrying away from them Rock couldn't hear it. Even Vixen, with her amazing ears, could not pick up the sound.

"We have to go after them!" she declared.

"Yes!" Thorn agreed, nodding vigorously. "Let's set out!"

With a yowl, four toms and a she-cat ran down the hillside, digging their claws into the grass on the moorland to push themselves to go faster.

* * *

The chase went on for most of the night, and eventually Vixen was the only one left running. However, she, too, finally lost sight of the escaped slaves, and ran out of stamina. She turned her paws back in the direction of the camp, stopping to catch her breath and then walking slowly back. Dawn was approaching.

When she reached the edge of the camp facing the moorland, she looked up at the big gray tomcat.

"Did you find them?" he asked.

"No, I lost sight of them after a little while," she admitted. "I still kept running just in case, following their scent trail, but eventually I just…_ lost_ it." Her voice was bitter with defeat. "Imagine; I _lost_ it! I couldn't find them…." She sighed. "Well, there goes that idea…. Your brilliant RockClan idea is out of commission, at least, for now…."

"That's too bad, then." Rock stared off across the hillside, his gaze one of concentration.

"I'm sorry, Rock." She sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

"It's all right, Vixen." Rock patted the black cat on the shoulder with his tail tip. "We'll get them back." His gaze hardened. "Somehow."

The two walked back into the camp together, where three tomcats faced them, looking surprised and upset.

"Did you get them?" the golden-brown tom asked.

Vixen shook her head. "No. I lost sight of them a while ago."

"Well, what are we waiting for? They'll probably stop soon, and we're all ready to go yet again!" the reddish-brown tabby hissed.

"Let's go!" the white cat agreed, nodding vigorously, obviously ready to agree with his friend.

"Now, hang on a second, Smudge, Ice," Rock greeted each cat with his respective name. "We can't just go rushing into these things, you know. We need a plan. We just ran after them when they weren't that far away. By now the trail will be cold, and they'll probably swerve away soon. Logistics, you know?" He paused. "I don't want to risk our chances of getting them back any more than you do, but some choices just have to be made. Plus, somebody needs to stay here, or at least, around here. Blood Splash, an old friend of mine, is coming tomorrow with his slave."

"Slave?" Smudge's eyes twinkled, and he lashed his red tail. "Where from?" Ice tipped his head to one side.

"He bought her from me," Rock boasted proudly. "But…." His gaze grew solemn again. "If we ever want _all_ the slaves back, we need to join together!" He glared down his muzzle at Smudge and Ice.

Ice stammered, "S-Sure. Why not?"

"That sounds like an excellent idea to me," Smudge agreed, growling as he looked sideways at Ice, whose tail was bushed out between his legs. He was glad Rock couldn't see it.

"Great!" Rock flicked his tail tip. "We'll just wait for Blood Splash and his slave, then!"

"Where shall we sleep?" asked Ice, looking up at the full moon.

Rock glanced around the clearing. It had thick bramble and rock walls, and there were many different dens surrounding the edge of the camp. He flicked his ears. "Doesn't matter. We have a few different dens."

Smudge nodded. "All right. Thanks, Rock!"

Ice dipped his head. "We'll look forward to tomorrow, then!" he agreed. Smudge and Ice walked to two den openings not too close to the entrance, but not too close to the slave entrance, either. There, they each walked into a den, falling asleep soon after.

* * *

The next day, Smudge stretched and walked out of his den. At the other end of the camp, he saw that there were no dens… something he hadn't noticed the night before. Instead, there was a rock wall. A path led along either side of it and in the middle, and at the top there was another thick bramble wall with holes in it.

_Is that where Vixen, Thorn, and Rock sleep?_ he wondered.

As if on cue, the three cats came out of their dens. Rock's den entrance was the biggest hole of them all, and he was in the middle. Vixen came out of the one on the right, yawning. Thorn emerged from the hole on the left. Vixen trotted down the path on the right, Rock down the one in the middle, and Thorn down the one on the left.

Smudge glanced into his friend's den. His friend was sleeping in the dark, protected den. Smudge quickly pulled some brambles over the entrance of his den, turning around and straightening up to say hello to the other three cats.

"Thorn, Rock, Vixen," he greeted them. "Good morning!"

"Good morning," Thorn grunted.

"Good morning!" Vixen sang.

"Morning," Rock grunted. "Blood Strike is coming at noon."

Smudge glanced at the sky and, more importantly, the sun. "It's almost straight overhead," he pointed out. "Should I do anything?"

"Yes," Rock decided. "Get your friend awake and out here."

Smudge quickly raced to his friend's den. "Ice! Get out here. Rock needs us. He wants you to see when Blood Strike brings his slave!"

"Yes, sir!" Ice raced out of the den, looking somewhat wild-eyed. His fur was sticking up in a few different places, and he looked although he'd just woken up.

Rock flicked his tail tip in the direction of Ice's fur. "Clean that up; we haven't got much time, either," he ordered. "We must be ready for Blood Strike! Smudge, Thorn; will you go hunting?"

"Yes, Rock!" Smudge obeyed, rushing out of camp.  
"Aww, why _me_?" Thorn complained to Rock.  
"Because," Rock explained, only somewhat impatiently, "You are a good hunter, and all of us will need to be fed before and during the meeting!"

Thorn's eyes glittered. "Should I bring back something for the slave to eat, too?"

"Of course not!" Rock's voice was, however, humorous. "Now go!"

Thorn disappeared.

* * *

"Is he here yet?" Vixen whispered agitatedly to Ice.

"No! Not yet. Come on; watch! Stop whispering to me!" Ice whispered back.

The two were waiting for Blood Strike to appear, and he was sure taking his sweet time!

"Think he's having troubles with his slave?" Ice suggested.

"What? No way!" Vixen meowed scornfully. "He'd just torture her and then force her to go along with him, no matter what she wanted!"

"Hmm. True," Ice agreed, but the words were more to himself.

Finally, however, Blood Strike appeared, dragging a crying slave along with him. The slave had a collar and a leash around her neck, and she was being dragged along the sharp rocks on the forest floor.

"Hello, Blood Strike!" Vixen called, immediately rushing up to greet the tom and taking his slave's leash from around his paw.

"Hello, Vixen," Blood Strike purred. "And who's this?" he asked, gazing at Ice. He willingly gave up control of his slave to Vixen, Ice noticed. She put the leash over her own paw and threatened the slave, "Shut up. Stop crying, and follow me into the camp!"

"Oh, uh; umm…. I'm Ice," Ice offered, somewhat shocked by Blood Strike's friendliness. Jeeze, for such a large tom, he sure was polite! Well, to all but his slave. Ice laughed inwardly to himself at the craziness of it all.

"You may call me Blood," Blood Strike said, dipping his head at Ice and following Vixen into the camp. Ice was momentarily stunned. Usually, he was regarded as the less important of Smudge and his little pair of friends, and he wasn't greeted _nearly_ so kindly! In fact, at one point, he'd been something like Smudge's slave. He was much younger than Smudge when he was taken in by the tom, and Smudge realized that the value of having someone to hunt for him was too great, and he was so worried that Ice would run away that he kept him locked up and fed him only if he did a good job. Ice had spent many nights starving in his little cage.

Actually, now that he thought about it, that had been the cage that they had kept Bug in for the one night or so that they'd actually _had_ her! Ice shuddered. Before now, Smudge had kept the cage as a sort of reminder that he had control over Ice… and that he could never get away.

Ice shook his head, interrupting all the upsetting thoughts and stopping them right in their tracks; and padded into the camp. He heard a young she-cat's voice murmur something—_probably the slave's voice,_ he thought—but then he heard a bloodcurdling scream, coming from the same voice—obviously, the young she-cat had said something wrong!

"Blood!" Rock was calling, hurrying over to his old friend as Ice entered the camp. "You came!"

Blood purred. "Of course I would," he said, his voice silky yet dangerous. "And you thought that I wouldn't? That I would just leave you waiting for me rudely?"

"Well, no; but…," Rock began.

"No buts; that's rude!" Blood chided in the kind of voice you'd talk with to a kitten. "I thought I trained you better than that!"

"Sorry," Rock mumbled.

"Anyways," Blood said cheerfully, lashing his tail and going on to the next topic. "We came here to share slave training techniques, right? So, where are your slaves? Where's Bug?" he asked, looking around.

"Well." Rock looked as if he wanted to sink into the floor and die right about now. "They, umm…. Well, it turned out that one of the cats in my group was an insider for the Clan cats, and they all escaped."

"You _what_?" Blood yowled. "You see, this is exactly why you limit slave and master interaction, even the slaves' interactions among each other, because they will almost always trick you, by forming a foolproof plan and escaping!"

"Well, it turns out that one of my warriors was planning this for quite some time!" admitted Rock. "We never even saw it coming."

"We all went after them," Vixen volunteered.

"That's not enough. We must find them. _Find them!_ The Clans must know that they can never get away, ever again!" Blood roared.

Thorn, Rock, and Vixen, now pressed against each others' pelts yet still holding their ground against Blood, although they did look somewhat taken aback—and Thorn just looked startled—mewed in unison, "Yes, Blood."

Smudge leaned over to whisper to Ice, "Are they, like, Blood's former slaves, or something?"

"How should I know? I was outside the camp, waiting with Vixen, for the entire time until he arrived!" Ice whispered back.

"You'll learn these cats' secrets for me, okay?" Smudge murmured dangerously. He dug a claw into the skin just below Ice's knee, and he gasped, although not audibly enough to draw attention to the two. "You'll learn these cats' secrets and find out what makes them tick and what makes their slave agencies so popular, and then we'll make our own slave agency! If you can cooperate with me, you'll be a free cat!"

Ice simply nodded mutely. "Y-Yes, Smudge. I understand."

"Call me _Master_," Smudge hissed dangerously.

"Sorry, Master," Ice whimpered.

"That's more like it." Smudge flicked his tail, grinned, and simply dug his claw deeper into Ice's side. Ice held his tongue with quite a bit of an effort.

Vixen heard what was going on; she couldn't _hear_ the two toms, but she could hear their thoughts, and what she heard shocked her. Ice was Smudge's former _slave_! No, she simply couldn't have it. Much as she hated it, she… she _loved_ Ice!

She bounded over to the pair. "Excuse me, is there anything wrong here?" she asked sweetly.

Smudge, she noticed, quickly put a paw back on the ground. It had been raised in the air just behind Ice; Vixen saw that he was sheathing it and surmised that Smudge had clawed Ice. Ice, too, was sitting up with an expression of relief on his face.

_That tells me all that I need to know._

"Now, how about you stop threatening Ice and letting him get on with his life as a free cat, hmm?" she asked Smudge sweetly. Smudge wore an expression of shock on his face for a quick heartbeat, although he quickly covered it up. Now Vixen could _see_ why no cat had ever expected Ice's slavery terms!

"I saw that," she continued, "and I can hear everything you say out loud or think in your mind. So, now…." Her eyes glinted dangerously. "Why don't you just emancipate Ice right here and now and be done with it? Or, well, your mind will be _pret-ty_ messed up," she finally finished, a subtle threat lighting up in her voice.

Smudge glared at Vixen, and then at Ice. She could feel that he was not sincere, but he was trying his hardest to fool her. "You're free, Ice," he meowed softly.

"No! You're lying!" she spat at him. "I can tell! I'm no fool, you know!"

Smudge was surprised momentarily, and then Rock called him back over. He was sitting alone with Thorn at the other end of the clearing. "Now… will you please get back to business?"

"Yes, Rock." Vixen dipped her head and herded Smudge and Ice over to him. The two toms sat as far away from each other as they possibly could, their shoulders held stiffly and their tails bushed out and flicking dangerously behind them.

"Glad to see you're at least… getting along," Rock meowed dangerously, his gaze flicking back and forth between the two of them. "But try to calm down, okay? We have enough problems already, without you acting up, and adding to them!"

"Sorry, Rock," Ice murmured.

"That's fine, Ice. I'm sorry about that. If Smudge doesn't want to let you free, _I_ will. I have more authority over him, anyhow. Anyways…." He glanced back and forth to his other cats. "We've figured out a lot today. Why not plan some more tomorrow? And, besides, Vixen has to work on training Blood's slave for us all to use!" Rock's eyes gleamed as the cats retreated back into their dens, and around the camp.

The next day, Rock and the others were already formulating a plan.

"We have to attack the Clans somehow!" declared Vixen.

"Yes…," Rock meowed thoughtfully.

"You can't attack the Clans!" a small voice suddenly burst in.

Vixen turned around furiously. "_Quiet_, slave!" she roared, catching the small kit by surprise, and clawing her ears. The slave shrieked, scrabbling at the ground as she was brutally wounded.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she screeched.

"Sorry's not enough!" Vixen growled. "You do_ not_ interrupt your master!"

"I'm sorry!" she shrieked again.

"Sorry what?" Vixen demanded.

"I'm sorry, master! I bow down to you! I'll never do it again!" shrieked the slave.

"And what else?" Vixen prompted, her eyes glinting dangerously.

"My name is Dung and I'm a slave of the Rock Agency, whose symbol is Tigerstar! I am slaves of Rock, Thorn, Vixen, Ice, and Smudge, and they may do whatever they want to me, whenever they want!" she recited, her eyes widening somewhat desperately.

"Dung does have a bit of a stubbornness streak," remarked Thorn to Smudge.

"I know," Smudge replied, watching the torture. His claws scraped over the ground as he anxiously watched the torture, itching to join in on it himself.  
"She learns quickly, though," Ice observed.

"Hey, let's all torture her!" Vixen suddenly exclaimed, tossing the slave halfway across the clearing, where she hit her head on a sharp stone and promptly fell unconscious.

"Later." Rock shook his head. "Right now, we have things to discuss."

"Sure, Rock," Vixen agreed, nodding her head. "Although, why would you pass up a chance to torture somebody mercilessly?"

Rock stared at her. "We can do that later…. Besides, don't you eventually want to have even _more_ slaves to torture?" He grinned.

"Yes!" Thorn agreed. "More slaves!_ Clan_ slaves! That's why it's so important that we keep on planning!"

They got engrossed in talking again, each of them making worthwhile contributions. It was found out that while Ice didn't like torturing other cats, he could sure talk about torturing them! He had a good head set firmly on his two shoulders, and he came up with many plans that Rock appreciated. Rock decided that he would make an excellent control cat.

"Thank you, Rock!" Ice beamed. His tail, however, was fluffed out again; whether with fear or with pride, no one could tell. Rock looked him over.

"No problem." He nodded his head. "Just keep that head of yours smart, okay?"

"I-I will!" Ice let out a purr. It was obvious, then, that he was happy!

At the end of the day, it was decided that Vixen would talk to cats in dreams, as with her mind reader abilities, she could also walk in cat's dreams, because infiltrating minds leads to infiltrating dreams, right? She would "convert" that cat unknowingly over to their side; sort of almost using it as a pawn, of sorts. The cat would, of course, also be captured!

Then, that cat would go on a patrol to the very edge of the territory, where a few cats in the group would be lying in wait to capture them all! That way, nobody would know who took them, as by the time the other cats realized it was a problem, they would be long gone, and so would the scent.

"But," Ice explained, "The cat who Vixen makes hurt its Clanmates will have to knock them all out first. Then, a few of us can drag the cats away while another cat masks our scent for as long as we think they'll be looking for us before the scent fades away. Okay? And no blood or anything! That's just another clue to them finding us!"

"The dream cat will be but a pawn in our plans," Rock purred. "We should have no trouble convincing him to do that."

"Who will we masquerade ourselves as, though?" Vixen meowed with a frown. "Ourselves? Do you think they'll believe us?" Her smart mind was skeptical.

"Well, of course they will be willing to work for us if we do it right!" Ice purred. "Vixen, you'll be busy every night!" he warned. "We should pick off the largest Clan first."

"Isn't that ThunderClan?" meowed Thorn.

"Yes! It is," Ice agreed. "We once talked to a loner that had lived in the Clans once who got exiled…. His name was Hawkclaw. Apparently, his mate cheated on him and he tried to kill his own kits." He sighed. "No one understood…. They all thought he was a monster. They kicked him out." His eyes suddenly burned with a new fire. "But they didn't see what_ really_ happened! It was his_ mate_ who deserved to get kicked out, and especially to die! Not _him_!"

"All right, all right; that's enough about what he did, Ice," Rock finally meowed, rolling his eyes. "Anyways, he's probably a decent cat. Vixen, Ice. You're in charge of finding him!"

"Yes, Rock!" Vixen dipped her head, grinning. She nudged Ice. "Did you hear that? We're going on a cat-finding patrol together!"

"The rest of you, let's prepare the camp!" Rock continued. "I want all slave cages cleaned and ready. I don't want a spot missed! And if_ any_ of our slaves die, then I'll want to know the reason why." His eyes glinted dangerously. "Anyways. The cats finding Hawkclaw? Go."

Vixen and Ice leaped up and dashed out of the camp.

"As for the rest of you…." Rock turned to his companions, his eyes gleaming. "We have some work to do."


End file.
